1001 Nights in Paris

The Institut du monde arabe in Paris is holding a Nights-themed exhibit through April of 2013.

From AFP: http://www.france24.com/en/20121126-1001-nights-cast-spell-paris-expo

"AFP - Full of flying carpets, genies, love and battle, a Paris show opening Tuesday lifts the curtain on "One Thousand and One Nights", exploring the roots of the folk tales and their powerful influence in the West.

Through some 350 manuscripts, artworks, artefacts and film clips, the show at the Arab World Institute traces the tales' journey from their origin in Indian and Persian folkore, to their translation into Arabic in the eighth century.

And it highlights how the French Orientalist Antoine Galland brought the "Nights" to Western audiences in 1704, translating a manuscript of 35 original tales, and weaving in 35 others gleaned from his studies of the region."

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"A Pablo Picasso sketch and an abstract painting by Rene Magritte feature among the many representations of the beguiling beauty at the heart of "The Arabian nights", as the tales are sometimes known in the English-speaking world.

"Scheherazade remains for many a symbol of the emancipating power of speech, of knowledge's triumph over tyranny and a woman's courage in the face of injustice," write the curators.
The show also notes, however, that some modern feminists blame the figure of Scheherazade for perpetuating a narrow vision of women in the Arab world.

Wood-and-bone doors from 15th century Egypt or Syria, or a tiny glazed ceramic oil lamp from ninth-century Egypt -- intend to recreate the setting of the tales, between the great cities of Baghdad, Damascus or Cairo.

And visitors can settle into a listening booth to hear one of 15 tales, or catch a clip from one of 12 movies inspired by the "Nights", from the 1924 "The Thief of Baghdad" with Douglas Fairbanks to Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1974 version."


Their website (in French) - http://www.imarabe.org/

Check out their youtube site as well for commercials about the events - http://www.youtube.com/imarabe

The 1001 Nights Rolls Royce

From 1001 Nights

Just in time for the holiday season Rolls Royce has released a Nights-themed special edition of their Bespoke Ghost Collection.  Available in the Middle East, the cars are expected to cost somewhere around $250k USD.  The pictured one above is the first of three versions, or "chapters" - it was recently released at a car show in Sharjah, UAE.

If this doesn't highlight exactly the virility, versatility and problematic history of the Nights I don't know what does.

Yours truly can't think of a more appropriate gift for my years of blogging service.

Some clips from the media:

Automobilemag.com: http://rumors.automobilemag.com/rolls-royce-outfits-2013-ghost-to-commemorate-one-thousand-and-one-nights-184887.html#axzz2EfTGtFBs

"The lower body panels are painted in a deep matte brown, and the sloping hood and pillars (everything above the character line and on the front end’s protruding grille surround) are painted a matte caramel. The scheme is striking if nothing else, even though reminds us more of Rolo candies than than West/South Asian folklore. Perhaps we’re not cultured enough to appreciate the symbolism."

The rear seats, as usual, have DVD screens in the front seatbacks…all the better to watch Disney’s commercialized adaptation of Aladdin, one of the many One Thousand and One Nights stories. If that seems a bit gauche for you, we’d recommend turning up the Ghost’s sound system improved for 2013 with headliner-mounted tweeters) and popping in a CD of Scheherazade, Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous musical adaptation of the same collection of stories."

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Motorward.com - http://www.motorward.com/2012/11/rolls-royce-ghost-one-thousand-and-one-nights-edition/

"One Thousand and One Nights, the epic tales told by Scheherazade to Shahryar, are among the region’s most famous works of literature. Just like the books, Rolls Royce Ghost 1001 Nights collection will be launched in three chapters, with the first one to be launched at at the Sharjah International Automobile Show on 28 November 2012."

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Motortrend:  http://wot.motortrend.com/rolls-royce-ghost-special-edition-takes-inspiration-from-the-arabian-nights-291155.html#axzz2EfS2xM7N

"It’s getting difficult to keep track of all the Rolls-Royce special-edition models, but we have one more to add to the list: the Rolls-Royce One Thousand and One Nights Bespoke Ghost Collection. Created to increase interest in the cars for markets in the Middle East, the special Rolls-Royce Ghosts have two-tone paint that’s said to be inspired by the stories of “The Arabian Nights.”"

Jorge Luis Borges - El Libro de las mil y una noches

Longtime Nights admirer and writer who can hold his own just fine Jorge Luis Borges speaks about El Libro de las mil y una noches. This 40+ minute recording is part of a series of lectures he gave on literature in 1977 (en Spanish):

The Journal of The 1001 Nights in the Media

 picture: Muhsin Mahdi's edition of the G-manuscript 1001 Nights

Mentions of the Journal:

Since I’ve started this website I have been humbled by the responses from people around the world, and by the number of people supporting it.

Here is a compilation of mentions of the blog in the media and elsewhere.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of its continuing growth.

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            “The fact that websites are doing more than providing a wealth of folktale and fairy-tale primary texts to those who can access the Internet is further brought home by the multiplying of online publications, like the English-language Cabinet de Fees and Fairy Tale Review (both of which have issues also available in print); discussion forums such as SurLaLune’s, which in the October 2000-June 2011 period had 3,761 average visits per day and 23,391 total posts on over six hundred different topics; blogs, including Breezes from Wonderland by Harvard-based fairy-tale scholar Maria Tatar and the one Michael Lundell has maintained since 2007, The Journal of [the] 1001 Nights; and Facebook groups like Fairy Tale Films Research” (10).

Bacchilega, Christina. Fairy Tales Transformed?:  Twenty-First-Century Adaptations and the Politics of Wonder. Detroit:  Wayne State UP, 2013.

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Cited as reference in “Noble Betrayers of their Faith, Families and Folk: Some Non-Muslim Women in Mediaeval Arabic Popular Literature,” by Niall Christie, Folklore Volume 123, Issue 1, 2012, 84-98.

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Paul Nurse – Eastern Dreams:  How The Arabian Nights Came to the World (Toronto: Viking Canada), 2010.

“Michael Lundell’s blog at http://http://journalofthenights.blogspot.com is at once informative and wide-ranging” (234).

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Center for the Humanites – University of Wisconsin, Madison – the arabian nights in wisconsin (2010)

http://www.humanities.wisc.edu/programs/great-texts/arabian-nights/web-resources.html (old site)

“Resource for scholarship on The Arabian Nights. Maintained by Michael Lundell, a PhD candidate in English Literature, this is probably the most comprehensive source of information on the text available online.”

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Chicago Shakespeare Theater

http://www.chicagoshakes.com/main.taf?p=2,19,3,15,2,7

“Michael Lundell, a PhD student in Literature working on the 1001 Nights has compiled numerous articles, reviews and links for the Nights, including a tremendous collection of video clips.”

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1001 Dramaturgy Blog – Company One’s Production of Jason Grote’s 1001

http://companyone1001.tumblr.com/

I’m getting a lot of these illustration things from this wonderful blog dedicated to information re: Quitab Alif Lailah ua Lailah. I’m in the middle of perusing it right now, but feel free to check it out, it’s quite actively up-to-date. It’s run by Michael Lundell, a PhD candidate at UCSD focusing on the Nights. Thanks Michael!!

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Part of The University of California, San Diego Library's "SAGE" project – An online directory of trusted sources of academic information.

Middle East Studies

http://libraries.ucsd.edu/sage/subject?subject=70

Comparative Literature

http://libraries.ucsd.edu/sage/subject?subject=110

(under blogs category)

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Listed as reference on numerous related course websites, syllabi and other academic events including:

Comparative Literature CAS XL 225 – 1001 Nights in the World Literary Imagination, Boston University, Professor Margaret Litvin - http://1001nightsatbu.wordpress.com/

English 623:  The Arabian Nights in Literature and Culture, CSU Northridge, Professor Hatfield - http://the1001nights.wordpress.com/

English 2332:  World Literature, Collin County Community College District - http://iws.collin.edu/grooms/wl1f11calw.htm

The Arabian Nights in Wisconsin – 2010-2011 reading initiative and part of the Center for the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. http://humanities.wisc.edu/

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And a sighting/citing on Wired.com (which explains why this particular post has been the most popular of the blog for the past six months):

"Narquitectura: Inside the Fortified Palaces of Mexico’s Drug Lords"

• By Robert Beckhuse
• October 22, 2012

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/cartel-cribs/?pid=1511

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An earlier incarnation of the blog, and myself, are referenced here as well:

Perreault, Greg.  "Kingdom Hearts:  Immersion, Interactivity, Intertextuality...and Goofy?" Gregory Perreault:  A Research Portfolio of New Media, Journalism and Religion.  http://gregperreault.com/?p=101

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  cited in - 

Dale, Madalina. “The Hybridity of Narrative Form and Language in 'Haroun and the sea of stories'”

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I have also been interviewed by Colombian National Radio, the Annenberg Foundation - a PBS related company which produced the show Invitation to World Literature:  The Thousand and One Nights (http://www.learner.org/courses/worldlit/the-thousand-and-one-nights/watch/), have been given review copies of Nights-related books from major publishers and have helped numerous students and professors around the world with Nights-related queries, projects and research.