EASTERN NARRATIVE TRADITIONS AND ETHICAL VALUES IN BOCCACCIO’S DECAMERON: A COMPARATIVE-INTERTEXTUAL STUDY

Abstract

This article examines representations of the East and the mediation of Eastern narrative traditions in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. Its central argument is that “Eastern influence” should not be treated as a single, self-evident category. The study distinguishes explicit Eastern settings and characters, historically traceable intermediary traditions, probable Mediterranean transmission, and broad typological parallels. Close readings of the tale of Melchizedek and the three rings (I.3), Alatiel’s Mediterranean itinerary (II.7), and the reciprocal courtesy of Saladin and Torello (X.9) show that Boccaccio’s East performs several functions: it tests religious judgment, expands the geographical range of fortune, and provides exemplary forms of intelligence, generosity, and recognition across confessional boundaries. At the same time, the Decameron does not offer a uniformly idealized or historically transparent image of Eastern societies. Its representations are shaped by medieval Christian knowledge, mercantile geography, circulating exempla, comic convention, and the requirements of individual narrators. The article therefore rejects both Eurocentric isolation and unsupported claims that the work derives directly from The Thousand and One Nights. It proposes a four-level evidentiary model for intertextual research and concludes that Boccaccio’s principal achievement lies in transforming mobile Mediterranean story materials into an ethical laboratory in which identity is judged through conduct rather than confession alone.