Egyptian Group Wants to Censor Arabic Classic

The collection of folktales known in English as “The Arabian Nights” are a classic work of globalization. For centuries, starting with the 9th, multiple storytellers traveled, spinning and elaborating the tales with themes and settings spanning ancient Mesopotamia, India, medieval Persia and Egypt. Arabic translators preserved the tales into book format, which later influenced modern writers of the West. A fundamentalist group, Lawyers Without Shackles, is determined to “purify” or remove what they regard as obscenities and anti-Islamist themes from both modern or classic literature. An article in the Los Angeles Times reports that such censorship attempts, aiming to protect the integrity of Islam, Christianity and other religions through the legal system, are on the rise. Most complaints are dismissed. The quest to erase centuries-old history or literature seems futile, and critics suggest the complaints merely serve as a way for censors to display a self-righteousness. – YaleGlobal