There are tales of horror, crime, sci-fi and, of course, fantasy. There are stories within stories (within stories, sometimes) there are unreliable narrators there is foreshadowing there are plot twists. It’s also impossible to ignore the tremendous influence on storytelling these tales have had, far beyond the Islamic Golden Age in which they were initially compiled-the earliest known printed page dates back to the 9th century. And it’s rife with racism toward dark-skinned Africans and casual discrimination of Jews. (In other words, Scheherazade invented narrative television.) It’s hard to ignore that, from the start, this book of short stories is deeply misogynistic the problematic gender dynamics of its time are pervasive and often stomach churning. Nearly everyone is familiar with this collection of folktales, also known as One Thousand and One Nights, and its infamous framing device: Scheherazade, the vizier’s daughter, is set to be married and then killed by the king she forestalls this destiny by convincing the king to hear a story, which she then draws out for 1,001 nights by ending each evening on a cliffhanger.
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