Sonia Sulaiman

Arab Folktales from Palestine and Israel by Raphael Patai. There is a lot to unpack with this one. I could simply say that it is of its time but that wouldn’t really suffice. There is a lot of orientalism here, even at first glance. In general, the approach seems to be that if you read these tales in the literal translations provided you will gain insight into “Arab Culture.” As I said to someone just now: “what is Arab culture? I do not know what ‘Arab culture’ means.”

As for Palestinians, the phrases “Palestinian Arabs,” “Israeli-Arabs,” and “Arab tribes in Israel” appear.

contents

Part One: 1910-11

• The One-Eyed Ghoul
• Allah’s Dispensation
• The Jinn’s Gratitude
• The Price of the Bride
• The Virtuous Maiden
• The Banished Prince
• The Emir’s Daughter
• The Unfaithful Wife
• The Two Blind Women
• Each Man Suffers Disasters

Part Two: 1946-47

• The Lightest of the Light, the Heaviest of the Heavy, the Fattest of the Fat
• Talaja of the Twenty an the Chicken
• Cunning…and Cunning
• The Locust and the Sparrow
• Tambar Titi
• The Return of the Light
• The Bird of Power
• The Dull-Witted Fisherman

Part Three: 1982-84

• The King and His Wife
• Ghouls in Switzerland
• The One-Eyed Giant Shepherd
• Hasan the Sharp-Witted
• The Prince Who Turned Into a Deer
• Pomegranate Seed
• The Uncles and Their Nephew
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
• Wadi’ah
• The Two Hunters