The Thousand and One Night

The Thousand and One Night
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‘The Thousand and One Night’
Orientalism as a concept is a brainchild of Lord Byron. He came up with the idea in the 1800s, and it describes the fascination with the practices, mores, and customs of Eastern cultures and its depiction in the Western world (Lum and Harvey, 2018). Orientalism mostly involves perceiving the Eastern cultures, especially the Arab culture, as being exotic, uncivilized, backward, and in some instances, dangerous. The text The Thousand and One Night played an integral role in establishing and legitimizing orientalism in the West. In this text, the oriental people are stereotyped and brought out as being less intelligent and highly interested in sex and sexuality.
The oriental people, especially men, are represented as being shiftless and less intelligent. As opposed to being motivated by thought, they are inspired by sensual feelings. A perfect example is Nuredin who is brought out as being lazy and with nothing in his name (Mahdi, 1995). Despite Zumurud choosing him, he eventually loses her because of the laziness and his limited ability to think logically. Another oriental individual who is brought out as being less intelligent is Aziz. His thinking is shallow and is portrayed as lacking in individual talent (Mahdi, 1995). This representation is quite different from the Western tradition in which men are expected to be smart, full of talent and capable of making positive contributions to society.

The representation also goes against my preconceptions towards the oriental world for I believe that the oriental society significantly contributed to the development of science and technology.
Orientals are also represented as being highly interested in sex. They are brought out as individuals who are slaves to sex. Readers get to see the oriental men buying sex slaves. The men are brought out as being fascinated with the bodies of females and their configurations. The main motivator for men such as Aziz and Nuredin is sex and sexuality (Mahdi, 1995). This is unlike in the Western tradition where sex and sexuality are mostly treated as a private matter. Too much sexual desires are shunned in the Western tradition unlike in the oriental societies as shown in The Thousand and One Night. My preconception of oriental people is that they are reserved people who shy away from making issues of sex and sexuality public. As such, the representation of Orientals as highly sexual people differs from my preconception of the oriental culture.
In conclusion, the text The Thousand and One Night is stereotypical towards the oriental people for they are represented as being less intelligent and highly interested in sex and sexuality. The text did not give a true picture of the oriental cultures and people and played an integral role in establishing and legitimizing orientalism in the West. The representation of the oriental cultures as being highly fascinated with sex and sexuality, and their portrayal as being less intelligent go against my preconceptions towards the oriental world.
References
Lum, K. G., & Harvey, P. (Eds.). (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History. Oxford University Press.
Mahdi, M. S. (1995). The Thousand and One Night. Brill.