The name Scheherazade conjures up countless
images. Both adults and children recognize her name and
generally associate it with the Arabian Nights tales, first
translated from Arabic to French by Antoine Galland in 1704.
Over the centuries, Scheherazade and her tales have been
reinterpreted by numerous authors, artists, musicians and
filmmakers. While she was once described as a brave young
girl who used the power of words to save her life, disempowering
stereotypes of Scheherazade thrive in today’s world.
Many people envision her as a rich sultana in a lavish,
Oriental palace, based on multimedia images to which they
have been exposed. This website is a bilingual pedagogical
tool consecrated to the many identities of Scheherazade
around the world. Through a combination of literary excerpts,
newspaper articles, paintings, photographs, songs, film
posters, and film excerpts, you will meet the many faces
of Scheherazade, past and present.
In the first section of this site, you will read the framestory
of the Arabian Nights. Although numerous manuscripts of
the Arabian Nights exist, most scholars agree that the corpus
is of Indo-Persian origin, dating as far back as the ninth
century. The most well-known French and English translators
of the Nights are Antoine Galland, Joseph-Charles Mardrus,
Sir Richard Burton, and Edward Lane, respectively. The selection
that you will read is taken from Galland’s edition.
The next two sections of this site are devoted to Nineteenth
century rewritings of Scheherazade. Both Théophile
Gautier’s as well as Edgar Allen Poe’s short
stories resume where the Arabian Nights leaves off: the
thousand and second night. You will thus discover how two
authors chose to reinterpret Scheherazade and her relationship
to Schariar.
Orientalism is a notion which is intrinsically linked to
Western interpretations of the East, including Scheherazade
and the Arabian Nights. Orientalism is a discourse which
exaggerates the exoticism of the East, and corresponds to
colonial desires to dominate it. Although typically associated
with the Nineteenth century, this site will display that
Orientalism is a phenomenon which persists today. In excerpts
from Lynne Thornton’s Women as Portrayed in Orientalist
Painting, you will find examples of Europe’s fascination
with Scheherazade and the Arab world.
The next section of this site is devoted to Moroccan sociologist
Fatema Mernissi’s study of Eastern and Western perceptions
of Scheherazade and the harem. In excerpts from her 2001
book entitled Scheherazade Goes West: Different Cultures,
Different Harems, you will read about Mernissi’s surprising
discoveries.
In 1982, Leila Sebbar’s Shérazade was published
in French. In this novel, the Franco-Algerian author challenges
Orientalist stereotypes of Scheherazade by reinventing her
as a young Beur* runaway in Paris. You will read Englsih
excerpts from Sebbar’s novel in which Shérazade
learns about Orientalist art and embarks on a journey of
self-discovery.
The final portion of this site is a gallery of Twentieth
and Twenty-first century multimedia images of Scheherazade.
From European film posters of the Arabian Nights to an American
miniseries aired in the year 2000, you will be able to compare
the chronological and geographical evolution of Scheherazade.
At last, you will encounter the ultimate stereotype of Scheherazade
in the United States: The Arabian Nights Barbie. Returning
once again to the Eastern origins of the Arabian Nights,
you will see Iran’s answer to Barbie…
*Beur is a backslang terms which means Arab. It is used
to refer the second generation of Maghrebi immigrants in
France.
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