Scheherazade: From Storytelling 'Slave' To 'First Feminist'
On whether Scheherazade was always viewed as a heroine
"No, not at all. All of us, especially educated Arab women, would say, 'No, do you think I am Scheherazade? A slave sitting and telling you stories so you won't kill me?' This is how we thought about Scheherazade at the beginning. One Thousand and One Nights ... wasn't looked at as ... Arabic literary heritage. People thought it was vulgar; they thought it was very bad literature — it's not literature, it's folk tales and nothing else. But then everything changed."
On why sexuality is so essential to One Thousand and One Nights
"People at that time didn't think, 'Oh, this is forbidden. We shouldn't be talking about sexuality.' We should be talking about all aspects of life, and one aspect of life is sexuality. ...
"I'd like every single Arab to read One Thousand and One Nights. They [would] learn a lot from them, especially [because] these stories were written away from the influence of religion. It's interesting to see how we were open, how we had a dialogue with each other, how we wanted to understand, how we respected each other. There was a great dignity, and I'd like this to be restored again."
Read an excerpt of One Thousand And One Nights