A01=Robert Irwin
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Aladdin
Ali Baba
arabia
Author_Robert Irwin
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=DSA
Category=DSBB
Category=JBGB
Category=JFHF
classic story stories for children
comedy
COP=United Kingdom
counter-culture
criticism
debate
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
epic
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
erotica
fable
fairy tale
history
history of translation
Language_English
legend
literary companion
middle east
mystical anecdote
myth
oriential literature
PA=Available
Pharaonic Egypt
political allegory
prehistoric India
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
scholarly analysis
Sinbad the Sailor
social history
softlaunch
Product details
- ISBN 9781860649837
- Weight: 300g
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 30 Oct 2012
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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"The Arabian Nights" has become a synonym for the fabulous and the exotic. Every child is familiar with the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. Yet very few people, even specialists in oriential literature, have a clear idea of when the book was written or what exactly it is. Far from being a batch of stories for children, "The Arabian Nights" contains hundreds of narratives of all kinds - fables, epics, erotica, debates, fairy tales, political allegories, mystical anecdotes and comedies. It is a labyrinth of stories within stories. Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for its frivolity and occasional obscenity, the work has nevertheless had a major influence on European and American culture, to the extent that the story collection must be considered as a key work in Western literature. A full understanding of the writings of Voltaire, Dickens, Melville, Proust and Borges, or indeed of the origins of science fiction, is impossible without some familiarity with the stories of the "Nights". This companion aims to guide the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling.
It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India and Pharaonic Egypt to modern times, and explores the history of translation and imitation. Above all, it uses the stories as a guide to the social history and counter-culture of the medieval Near East and the world of the storyteller, the snake charmer, the burglar, the sorcerer, the drug-addict, the treasure hunter and the adulterer.
Robert Irwin has taught Arabic and Middle Eastern History at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London. Publisher and novelist, he is also the Middle East editor for the Times Literary Supplement and a prolific author.
