Functions of Quranic Stories According to Propp's Approach

Story telling can be considered human's first verbal art. The Holy Quran has employed narrating prophet's stories as means for human guidance. The present article tried to answer the following questions by studying functions in Quranic stories according to Propp’s view: can all Propp's thirty one functions be found in Quranic stories? Can Quranic priorities be depicted considering the functions observed? After analyzing Quranic stories using Propp's approach, is it possible to say what are the similarities and the differences between the texts of Quranic stories and other stories? As a whole, function is an act of a character important for the story development and based on Propp, it is the smallest constituting part of a fairy tale.
The analysis of the data collected from Safavi’s translation of the Quranic stories show that: 1) all Propp's functions can be found in Quranic stories, but they are different in nature and some of these functions in the Quran have types not included in Propp's view. Representing norms (dos and donts), finding about other's beliefs and presentation of one's beliefs and endeavor to correct false beliefs, individual's sense of lack and remedy for such lack, the villainy of the misled and their punishment, as well as presenting metaphysical signs for the prophethood of the prophets are the main priorities in the Quran. In spite of some similarities including the application of Propp's general functions in the story development, and the existence of binaries such as spying vs information-giving, villainy-punishment and lack-remedy, a number of differences are also observable. Differences in the nature of spying vs information-giving, metaphysical elements and spiritual rewards are some of the differences found in Quranic stories as contrasted with Propp's findings.