The Thousand and One Nights
Exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe from 27 November 2012 to 28 April 2013
"The Thousand and One Nights" collection of stories probably constitutes the example of Arab literature that is most firmly rooted in the Western world's collective imagination. All young children are introduced to the stories of Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor. "The Thousand and One Nights" is however far more than just a book for entertainment. In reality, it is an extraordinary collection of folk tales, with eventful origins, a cultural witness of bygone centuries, a vehicle for Eastern mythology and beliefs, in particular those of the Arab world. The very presentation of the "Nights" is different from classical stories, which adds to the originality of the work. Readers of these tales discover characters who are brought to life in recurrent topics, and whose adventures - mainly based in the Near and Middle East - sometimes take them to the borders of India and China. A more detailed study of this work, which is in reality poorly known, is essential in order to highlight the true richness of the approximately 300 stories it contains.
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