John Rawlins and ideological Adaptation from the Orient: Case Study Arabian Nights

One of the cases of research in the field of comparative literature is the study of cinematic adaptation. The scope of the present article is the study of John Rawlins' special interpretation of One Thousand and One Nights in the form of its recreation in the movie Arabian Nights (1942). This movie, which is named after the book, One Thousand and One Nights, has distanced itself from One Thousand and One Nights and has distorted it. This distortion or change inheres in the adaptation because Rawlins does not want to be completely faithful to the story and practically sacrifices fidelity to his creativity. The main issue of the research is that since the director of the film is a Westerner who represents the East, the question is whether this change is ideological and the film should be examined in the field of Orientalism studies. Has he distorted the East? The results of the research show that Rawlins has completely metamorphosed Shahrazad's character and introduces her as a female dancer who dances for Arabs and enchants them with her dance. Rawlins maybe interpreted as to have distorted the East and through this distortion of the East Rawlins maybe interpreted as to have presented stereotypical and negative images of the Orient. Rawlins’s adaptation maybe interpreted to portray the Orientals as autocrats, law-breakers, emotional, superstitious and authoritarian people.