“Introduction to The Magical Archive” wooOOoo

– Drawing by Rob Gonsalves, huckleberryfineart.com

For the final project, I intend to work on the idea of magic in literature, especially magic dealing with mythological Arabian tales. In “The Prophet’s Hair” the phial was a symbolic relic, not only was it a religious symbol, but it was a symbol of bad fortune. The people at the time had been pretty much worshipping this hair, deifying the Prophet who did not want to be deified. I would like to introduce common themes and symbols. For instance, giving physical objects power of the supernatural, like the Genie in the lamp, carpets that fly, sorcerers and other concepts.

The title of my Archive will be “Siher”, and the primary text will be “The Prophet’s Hair” by Salman Rushdie. I have also chosen this text because I grew up in a Muslim/Arabian tradition and I feel that it would be interesting for me to discuss this topic also it’s interesting what others think about Islam outside of the Middle East and how it is portrayed in the media and literature. I plan to connect The Prophet’s Hair with the story of Aladdin, which is a classic Disney movie that most people have probably watched. I want to mention similarities between the two pieces. I will also show pictures of magic realism to put into perspective what to expect in the literal explanation. “The Prophet’s Hair” Including the use of contemporary images if possible as well as images from the Movie “Aladdin”. I am considering creating an argument based on orientalism in these two pieces to bridge an understanding of the symbolic images and themes.