Welcome to The Economics of Arabian Nights!
At 10:38 PM on Tuesday, July 22, 2010, I was chatting online with a friend about how literature might be used to teach economic principles, and the idea of The Economics of Arabian Nights was born. I could take advantage of the literary structure of a story in a story to create a series of lessons. After one day of sketching out a course outline, the The Economics of The Canterbury Tales idea quickly followed. Later, I also found literature-related works by other economists, establishing a precedent for the projects I’d undertaken. Thus encouraged, I created this blog, with the intent of posting weekly lessons based on each story within the story.
While reading my commentaries, you may notice that I focus solely on constructing an economic interpretation of the work. Criticism of the text’s style, language, character development, portrayal of culture, and the like are beyond the scope of this course and my capabilities. My goal is to evaluate the literature from an economic perspective, with the understanding that there are many other (more traditional and more popular) approaches to the text.
To date, the best translation of this story is The Arabian Nights, translated by Husain Haddawy. It is based on Muhsin Mahdi’s edition of the fourteenth century Syrian manuscript, considered to be the most accurate source available. Although any version can be used with this course, the index of lessons found on the Course Outline page corresponds to the Haddawy edition. Suggested resources can be found at the Economics Blog (Amazon) Store.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed the tales of Shahrazad, and now I’m happy to have this opportunity to share my own versions with you. If you have any questions about the course, please don't hesitate to contact me. Enjoy.
