9/15 class summary

During class we started off by stating quotes that stuck out to us after reading “The Dark Side of ‘The Arabian Nights’.” After stating the quotes a main idea/topic that was brought up by several students was racism and the roots of the “history” of the tales/stories that are told in “The Arabian Nights.” We discussed the several authors over the several decades and how the root  of racism is unknown due to the fact that stories were twisted depending on the author and the era. Also, the fact that many of the authors were anonymous makes it even more difficult for readers to understand where the root of the racism started or what parts of the stories were twisted or changed. But it was brought up by a few students that the French and British authors modified the translation in order for them to be more sexual and racist. Authors like Richard Burton and Joseph Charles Mardrus were said to have tweaked the translations in order to sell more and profit since people are likely to purchase a more sexually based story. Which is why as readers we have to fact check certain translations and try going back to the original text for the real “history” of the story.