For even the most venerable works of fiction, new readings can bring to light fresh meanings—and enduring truths. That is true of Yasmine Seale’s translation of “The Arabian Nights”
Yet this to-and-fro has had drawbacks. Western adaptations have sometimes misrepresented the original tales, often to satisfy Orientalist fantasies of the Middle East. Meanwhile, though female peril and ingenuity are at the heart of the story, until now no woman has published a full English translation of the story cycle. All of which makes this new edition—translated by Yasmine Seale, a female British-Syrian poet—quietly momentous.
For all the misogyny of the initial scenario, Scheherazade emerges as one of the most resourceful heroines in literature. But a lot can be lost in translation. Paulo Lemos Horta, a literary historian, says that, for previous generations of English readers, the tales came slathered in racism and sexism. The version by Edward Lane of 1839-41 salivated over the details of ornate palaces and titillating costumes.
For even the most venerable works of fiction, though, new readings can bring to light fresh meanings—and enduring truths. In 2017 Emily Wilson managed that in a new translation of Homer’s “Odyssey”, the first by a woman to be published in English. The new “Arabian Nights”—a selection from a complete edition in the making—does the same. Diyab’s role is duly recognised.
Or consider “The Story of the Porter and the Three Women of Baghdad”, Ms Seale’s favourite tale, in which the porter of the title is, as she puts it, “astonished to learn that it’s possible to have a good life without men”. Burton cut a section in which the women make jokes about the porter’s genitals; Ms Seale includes it.
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