Investigating the Instances and Levels of Narration in Long Folk Tales with an Emphasis on Abu Muslimnameh

In the historical culture of Iran, narration means lecturing and giving an account of any story in its broad sense. Story research pays attention to the presence of the narrator, as a human factor, in the transfer of the story, but does not examine the signs of his presence, extent of his possession, or adherence to resources in a methodical and accurate manner. The confusion of the narrator with the writers shows that, despite acknowledging that the story does not have an official writer, lecturers have taken the narrator of the fictional world the same as either the writer or with the narrator. On the other hand, the interventions of the editor of the story, in the form of the use of punctuation marks, and highlighting or hyphenation of some sentences in order to distinguish the narrator from the storyteller without having a precise and measured basis has added to the existing confusion. Narratology examines narrative instances and levels based on the interaction of the narrator, the actor, and the audience in the work. The narratological approach is very important in knowing long folk tales that have been reconstructed and recorded through the tradition of narration and storytelling because by distinguishing at the narrative levels, the narrator's position and discourse are determined. Is it possible to consider a concrete and abstract role of narration for the narrator apart from the lecturer? The results of this study are compared with the views of storytellers about narrators, lecturers, and writers.