Talk:One Thousand and One Nights

Persian

The Persian translation of this work is from the Arabic - the earlier Persian prototype (Hezār Afsān) is covered in its own section. Note in particular that

• "No physical evidence of the Hezār Afsān has survived, so its exact relationship with the existing later Arabic versions remains a mystery."

--Soundofmusicals (talk) 22:46, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

It's often the case that historical texts have ambiguous origins. This is especially so when it's a compilation with multiple authors adding to it over centuries. We can surmise that there were Indian, Persian, and Arabic sources for this great work, and perhaps other sources further afield (Ottoman Turkey, Central Asia?). There may have also been translations back & forth and a complex web of influences, which is difficult at best to sort out. All we can do is work with what we've got. Xcalibur (talk) 03:28, 23 July 2022 (UTC)

Precisely the point we must make to all 'patriotic" Persian folk who assume that because the frame story has a Persian setting the origins MUST be Persian. At best it ain't necessarily so. We DO give Hezār Afsān a fair go, I think. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 11:45, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

Yes, it's covered fairly. It's clear that Persian language, culture, literary influence, etc was historically prestigious and widespread, see Persianate_society. Thus, a Persian-influenced frame story only narrows it down to somewhere between the Ottoman Empire and Mughal India. Xcalibur (talk) 13:43, 26 July 2022 (UTC)

I'd suggest reading the literature of Iran and all the other countries you think 1001 nights originated from. Also the main story is totally Iranian with all of its characters also being so. The Arabic version was a translation and as much as some prople like to say otherwise, it doesn't change this fact. Arabs got rid of the original which is why we lost many of the stories. Some stories were later added again simply because people kept narrating the stories orally claiming these stories were also in the 1001 nights. It's about time some of us got a new hobby and let go of other countries' heritage. 91.98.32.182 (talk) 12:26, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Persian language revisited.

Hezār Afsān is a completely different (and, alas, lost) Persian work. Soundofmusicals (talk) 19:20, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

"Many" or "Most" stories Arabic folk Tales?

Restored revision 1165772977 by Samfedo (talk): Already pretty neutral - "most" has been there for years now - unless doubts about the source are based on an actual reading of its text rather than a "thought"? --Soundofmusicals (talk) 10:20, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Hi Soundofmusicals, thanks for your remarks, however, i would draw your attention on the fact that the source has no page number, and as far as i have seen, there is no such thing as "Most" in it. Please let me know if you think i'm mistaken. Best.---Wikaviani ^{(talk) (contribs)} 01:38, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

Actually we may even need another reference - as "many/most" not strictly linked to this ref.? --Soundofmusicals (talk) 10:23, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Well, when a source has no page number, it's quite hard to find the relevant part of it that supports the claim, but as far as i've been able to check, "many/most" is not mentioned, this is why i tried to neutralize the sentence.---Wikaviani ^{(talk) (contribs)} 20:42, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Science fiction in the Thousand and One Nights?

There is a substantial paragraph dedicated to the supposed "proto-science fiction" elements of The Thousand and One Nights. This is, not to put too fine a point on it, absurd. Fantastic undersea realms and/or celestial realms appear in premodern literature and folklore across Eurasia (and probably elsewhere as well, although I know less about this). The same is true of enchanted objects that grant their owner the power of flight. It is ridiculous to apply the label "proto-science fiction" to narratives that incorporate supernatural elements that can be misconstrued to permit superficial analogies with space travel, aviation, et cetera. This is the same kind of sloppy and/or wishful thinking as claiming that premodern stories about dragons are "proto-paleontology" and classing them with Jurassic Park on the grounds that both dragons and dinosaurs are big scary scaly things. 2600:1017:B801:43AD:8477:164A:68E:BA8 (talk) 01:30, 25 December 2023 (UTC)