Orientalism in Arabian Nights: Translation, Mythmaking, and Cultural Misreading

Abstract

This research analyzes how European translations and adaptations of Arabian Nights (One Thousand and One Nights) constructed the "Orient" as a Western fantasy. Drawing on postcolonial theory and translation studies, the paper argues that Orientalist interventions reimagined the text through lenses of exoticism, sensuality, and despotism. The study further explores how modern visual culture, specifically Disney’s Aladdin (1992 and 2019), continues to reproduce these colonial myths. Ultimately, the project demonstrates that literary translation is a political act and calls for a historically grounded reading of the tales.