Despite its wide influence over English literature and authors, I am unfamiliar with One Thousand and One Nights (or Arabian Nights). I knew Aladdin came from it, or at least from what I wrongly recalled as "One Thousand Arabian Nights," and that it's a classic. But, that's about it. Even though I know little about the book(s) itself or its history, I am not surprised that the translation is controversial – when reading “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,” I had a feeling that people of Middle Eastern descent did not lump themselves in with China. It sounds like Antoine Galland was the Walt Disney of his time, inventing stories loosely inspired by another culture’s folktales.
Controversial translation aside, the story itself, at least the one Andrew Lang offers, confuses me. I cannot quite understand the reason for its popularity in 19thcentury Europe. If it did exist before Galland, it makes sense to me why it was not find in One Thousand and One Nights before his translation - it doesn't feel like a traditional folktale. Anticlimactic and unnecessarily long at times, “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp” hardly promotes values and norms found in other fairy tales popular in Western Europe or in most folktales and stories around the world for that matter. The beginning brings down the mood instantly when Aladdin’s laziness is so problematic that his father drops dead. Idleness is not something most cultures and societies value. And, it's never really denounced; an important lesson about working hard is totally absent from the story. In fact, Aladdin’s whole rags-to-riches story revolves around him accidently coming into possession of two magical entities with genies that can do his bidding. His idleness is only enabled as his succeeds and gets what he wants.
Also, can one fairy tale/folktale/legend not be sexist? Of course the Princess – who is nameless despite her immense importance to the story – happily marries whichever man her father chooses. Of course she - a naive woman - foolishly falls for the magician’s trick and nearly gets her husband killed (twice). While the constant presence of sexism in these stories is not surprising, it’s still infuriating. How can the Sultan love his daughter so and threaten to execute Aladdin over her safety but still treat her as a commodity? I get that treating women as such was custom at the time but that type of thinking still seems illogical to me.
Overall, despite my complaints, I liked “One Thousand Arabian Nights” better than the Grimms’ version of Snow White – though it still doesn’t quite beat Mary Poppins for me. The story followed a clear plot, and while the appearance of the magician’s brother at the end felt unnecessary, it was multidimensional and dealt with several different conflicts. And, while the whole part with Aladdin sneaking the Princess and her bed away from the palace and spending the night with her was weird and alarming, at least we get to watch their relationship post-marriage and see that the she reciprocates his love. Yay for partial consent! It, along with the articles, makes me curious about One Thousand and One Nights. I want to pick up a copy and read more.
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