Bridging Space and Time – A Conversation with Translator Claudia Ott

A sunny day in March: Claudia Ott extends an invitation to her 18-century courtyard house in Lower Saxony for a talk on Arabic translation, on her recent visit to Iraq, and, of course, one of her passions that combines both: the tales of 1001 Nights.

Claudia Ott, a musician and Arabic scholar, stands among the foremost translators from Arabic to German. Her multi-volume retranslation One Thousand and One Nights is based on the oldest surviving manuscripts of these stories. The first volume, published in 2004 by C.H. Beck publishing house, was followed by Das glückliche Ende (The Happy End; 2016) and Das Buch der Liebe (The Book of Love; 2022), with two more volumes currently underway. Adding to her legacy, Ott’s publication 101 Nacht, released in 2012, surprised audiences with its revelation and translation of previously undiscovered stories from the expansive universe of 1001 Nights.
  Following an invitation by the Goethe-Institut Iraq, Claudia Ott first visited Baghdad, Mosul, and Erbil in January and February 2023. However, through her1001 Nights translations, she had already a profound connection to Iraq, nurtured over the course of 25 years, and especially to the city of Baghdad, from which the oldest known manuscript of 1001 Nights originates. Reflecting on her encounter of the manuscript, Ott shares, “It is no more than a double page with the title Alf Layla and the beginning of one night that’s discernible”. She explains that the page originates from a volume that had disintegrated over time, “In 862, a Baghdad notary utilised this fragment for his signature samples. This coincidental discovery proves to us that written versions of these tales indeed circulated in Baghdad as early as the 9 century, as confirmed by Arab sources.” Throughout the 9 and 10 centuries, the city of Baghdad, situated by the river Tigris, was the cultural heart of the Arab world. Claudia Ott paints a picture of bustling activity in what is now Mutanabbi Street, once known as the warraqun – papermaker – alley. It was here that book vendors, binders, and writers thrived, producing paper using ancient Chinese techniques since the 8th century. Most importantly, Baghdad serves as the backdrop for so many stories within 1001 Nights – its ancient streets, riverbanks, and channels leading to the Caliph’s palace forming the settings for criminal cases, tender romances, and captivating love stories. Even Caliph Harun ar-Raschid himself, masqueraded as a commoner, wanders the alleyways of Baghdad, surprising the guests at merry gatherings and not seldomly finding himself entangled in the most amusing situations.

Ott emphasises that this could of course not be reconciled with historic reality: “The character of Caliph Harun ar-Rashid, in particular, is fictional.” And even though today’s Baghdad differed considerably from the Baghdad depicted in 1001 Nights, the observant visitor could discern numerous echoes of its world. These include oversized statues portraying Shahrazad and Shahriyar, the protagonists of the overarching tale, representations of the flying carpet, a park inspired by 1001 Nights, quaint pavilions along the Tigris, each named after specific stories, as well as vestiges of architectural elements spanning the centuries. The remnants of a wall on the Tigris bank, for instance, endures as a reminder of the canal on which one of the caliph’s concubines is smuggled out of the palace, concealed in a crate of goods. These references made the connection to 1001 Nights so tangible within the city: “Baghdad is the only Arab city so explicitly and so prominently committed to the cultural heritage of 1001 Nights”, says Ott. That said, there remained much to rediscover of the atmosphere evoked in the ancient stories in the cities of Mosul and Erbil, as well. In Mosul, this manifested above all in a deeply rooted poetic and musical education, which also echoes in countless stories of 1001 Nights. Erbil, on the other hand, a flourishing commercial city with an impressive and vast sprawling covered market, was really a prime example for settings in the countless stories about craftspeople and traders in the “merchant’s guidebook of the Middle Ages”, as 1001 Nights is also termed.

The main purpose of 1001 Nights, Ott stresses, is to entertain. These tales were by no means meant as historical records, but still offer insights into that era’s realities. The fictional content of the overall quite heterogenous stories differed considerably, she says, and each story required individual scrutiny. While there were stories that take place under water or in the air, others could strike a much more realistic tone, with the caliph walking down a specific lane in Baghdad. The cohesive thread within these stories, beyond the overarching tale, lay in the qualities of “adschib” and “gharib”. While akin to the English terms “unusual” or “astonishing”, Claudia Ott interprets them in the sense of “exciting” and “exhilarating”, explaining that the built tension resembled the cliffhanger of a TV series. Closer examination, however, revealed a deeper layer beneath its entertaining surface: Shahrazad, the narrator of the overarching tale, is depicted as a woman who knows exactly what she is doing and who faces a life-threatening situation with shrewd intelligence and careful consideration. The real significance of the frame tale lay thus in her act of disrupting the spiral of violence, achieved not through conventional feminine traits like charm, attractiveness, and beauty, but rather through knowledge, education, and the power of literature. This elucidated why 1001 Nights stands among the paramount works of world literature: It demonstrates the triumph over adversity through creativity, intelligence, and wit. By skilfully employing education, art, and notably literature, the sultan is compelled to reevaluate and change his behaviour. 1001 Nights, hence, carries a profound message that remains relevant to this day: the importance to listen and the existential value of literary storytelling in our society.
For her reading session at Baghdad’s Mutanabbi Street, where literature enthusiasts meet most Fridays to read, discuss, and exchange ideas, Ott selected two stories set in Baghdad, one from 1001 Nights and one from 101 Nights. Presenting the texts in Arabic from the centuries-old original manuscripts, Ott projected them onto a screen for the audience’s benefit. This gesture was well-received by colleagues from Baghdad attending the lecture, who were able to follow the sources in real time. A special moment for everyone: Through direct interaction between storyteller Ott and her audience, accompanied by music on the Nay played by herself, alongside oud player Mustafa Salihi and percussionist Hussein al-Harbi, the oral storytelling tradition of the tales in their original context became tangible, bridging not only Germany and Iraq but also simultaneously the past and present.