How the Arabian Nights Inspired the American Dream, 1790-1935

359 Pages·2009·10.7 MB·English

by  Susan Nance

how the
Arabian Nights
inspired the
american dream,
1790–1935
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∫ 2009 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Set in Quadraat and Caliph
by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence
and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for
Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nance, Susan.
How the Arabian nights inspired the American dream, 1790–1935 /
Susan Nance.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8078-3274-5 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. United States—Civilization—Arab influences. 2. Arabian nights.
3. Arab countries—Foreign public opinion, American.
4. Orientalism—United States—History. 5. United States—
Civilization—1783–1865. 6. United States—Civilization—20th
century. 7. Performing arts—Social aspects—United States—History.
8. Popular culture—United States—History. 9. Capitalism—Social
aspects—United States—History. 10. United States—Economic
conditions. I. Title.
e169.1.n314 2009
909%.0974927—dc22 2008047299
13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1
contents
Preface ix
Introduction: Playing Eastern 1
one Capitalism and the Arabian Nights, 1790–1892 19
two Ex Oriente Lux: Playing Eastern for a Living, 1838–1875 51
three Wise Men of the East and the Market for American
Fraternalism, 1850–1892 79
four Arab Athleticism and the Exoticization of the American
Dream, 1870–1920 111
five Making the Familiar Strange: The Racial Politics of Eastern
Exotic, 1893–1929 137
six Eastern Femininities for Modern Women, 1893–1930 171
seven Turbans and Capitalism, 1893–1930 205
eight Sign of Promise: African Americans and Eastern Personae
in the Great Depression 231
Notes 255
Bibliography 299
Index 335
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illustrations
An Oriental tale written in Eastern voice 28
Scene of comfort and plenty from Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, ca. 1885 43
Evelyn Hughes’s New York City drawing room with Oriental cozy corner,
1899 48
Christopher Oscanyan’s book portrait 60
Christopher Oscanyan instructs Americans on the international language of
hand gestures 61
Bayard Taylor as Eastern traveler 76
Muslim man at prayer 89
Abd El-Kader with Masonic medals and Albert Rawson pictured with Masonic
banners 94
Mystic Shrine initiation ritual imagined as Oriental tale 106
Promotional bill for the 1896 tour of Bu√alo Bill Cody’s Wild West with a
rendering of Sheik Tahar 119
‘‘Troupe of Salim Nassar Bedouin Arabs, Hassan Ben Ali, manager,
1898’’ 132
Tradecard for the Bayrooty Troupe, a ‘‘Vaudeville Novelty of Oriental
Splendor’’ 134
Ottoman subjects energetically played various Oriental characters at the
Columbian Exposition 141
Mosque advertises a carpet shop at the Columbian Exposition 150
viii...Illustrations
Ottoman subject Robert Levy in a cryptic newspaper advertisement
commemorating Shriner Day at the Columbian Exposition 157
Arab Patrolmen march in a 1915 Spokane, Washington, parade with Shriner
cowboys and Indians from ‘‘Algeria Temple’’ in Montana 162
Egyptian Order Shriners still going strong in a 1953 Denver parade 167
Late nineteenth-century editions of the Arabian Nights stayed current by making
reference to the trope of a peek into spaces of feminine sociability 179
The Egyptian dancer Amina worked the Midway at the Columbian
Exposition 182
Women as audience members for ‘‘The Original Turkish Harem’’ on Coney
Island, 1896 189
Burlesque dancers played Eastern as various kinds of ‘‘Oriental’’ dancers 199
Swami Abhedananda got typically cynical press treatment 216
The urban religious marketplace o√ered traditional churches, sufism,
Theosophy, and turban-clad hotel advisers 227
Swami-style mind reader in dress tie and exotic cloak, Louisiana State Fair,
Donaldson, Louisiana, 1938 232
Early women members of the Nation of Islam bearing names like ‘‘Ali’’ and
‘‘Pasha’’ 250
preface
After a half century of near invisibility, since 2001 West and South Asian Ameri-
cans have become increasingly prominent in comedic and dramatic entertain-
ment, advertising, and journalism in the United States. This notoriety is only
one aspect of the public attention people have recently begun giving to those
who came to the United States as a result of the 1965 Immigration Reform
Act. The descendants of these new immigrants have in turn thought long and
hard about how to come across as native-born Americans by their appearance,
speech, politics, and more. For entertainers in this group, building a career in
show business has been especially tricky. Audiences have been deeply a√ected
by the ‘‘War on Terror,’’ the nation’s often-troubled relations with various
governments in the Muslim world, and the debate over the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. These issues can make it nearly impossible for desi, Iranian, or Arab
American performers to get work playing anything but bewildered migrants,
religious radicals, or foreign terrorists.
To make their way as entertainers and citizens, West and South Asian Ameri-
cans often use humor to step outside the portrayals of Muslims in news broad-
casts and cautionary television dramas. Prominent among these ventures is the
‘‘Axis of Evil’’ Comedy Tour. Featuring comedians of Iranian, Egyptian, and
Palestinian descent—but ‘‘still looking for a North Korean,’’ their publicity
material teases—comics like Maz Jobrani depict themselves as normal people
living in complicated times. One of Jobrani’s most famous jokes revolves
around the common scenario of the Iranian American who reveals his ethnic
background to a group of acquaintances for the first time. ‘‘You’re Iranian?!’’
they ask with alarm. ‘‘No . . . ,’’ he says with a smile. ‘‘I am Persian, like a carpet.
I am soft and colorful, you can lay down on me. Go ahead, take a nap.’’ Here
Jobrani reminds us of an older American tradition of interpretation wherein the
Muslim world was not a national security concern or subject to invasion by
American companies or armies but a familiar provider of contented consumer
experiences. In insisting he is Persian, Jobrani brings to the fore again an
interpretation of Eastern lands that actually predominated for the first 150 years
of American history. In those years, most people interpreted an Eastern persona