The Arabic Ghoul and its Western Transformation

Bibliographic Data

ID8932833
AuthorsAhmed Al-Rawi (0000-0002-1302-7427, corresponding author), Ahmed K Al-Rawi
Year2009
Volume120
Issue3
Pages291-306
Publication date2009-11-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00155870903219730
OpenAlexW2092642494
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited13

As a kind of devilish genie, the ghoul was part of beliefs held by Arabs long before the advent of Islam and was a perceived reality for most people living in Arabia. This paper discusses the nature of the ghoul as depicted in various Arabic sources from the eighth century onwards. Throughout different historical and religious periods, the character of the ghoul remained the same, being represented as an ugly human-like monster that dwelt in the desert and secluded locations, in order to delude travellers by lighting a fire and thus leading them astray. In some cases, this creature was said to have killed travellers. However, when Antoine Galland translated the Arabian Nights into French in the eighteenth century, some features were added to the ghoul in order to intensify its fearful characteristics. For example, Galland emphasised that the ghoul used to dig graves and eat corpses if it needed food, an idea that was never mentioned in any of the Arabic sources. Accordingly, numerous English writers followed Galland's description and further fantasised in their works about the viciousness of this creature. Notes [1] Westermarck also noticed that Arabs in Morocco believed that genies have "no fixed forms, but may assume almost any shape they like. They appear now as men, and now as goats, cats, dogs, donkeys, tortoises, snakes, or other animals, now as monsters with the body of a man and the legs of a donkey, now in other shapes, sometimes, for instance, with seven heads" (1899, 253). [2] gives the same description but calls this devilish creature "Ghaddār" ("perfidious") (1980, 237), and calls this kind of creature a "homosexual ghoul" (2004, 206). [3] According to the Al-Mawrid Dictionary: Arabic/English, the word "si'alwah" is translated from Arabic into English as "ogress," because the latter has no equivalence in Arabic (al-Ba'labakī , 630); therefore, ogre and ghoul are used interchangeably by some writers. [4] The term "Sidi," which means "my master" or "Sir," is used exclusively by the Arabs residing in North Africa, particularly in Morocco and Algeria, to show respect. Hence, this story was clearly written in one of the Arab countries in North Africa. [5] Other additions to the ghoul's description include Anthony S. Mercatante's reversal of Galland's account: "Ghouls eat corpses of young children, often taking bodies from graves. If no graveyard is available, they will pursue live victims" (Mercatante , 275). Other mistakes are also made by some writers such as Ulrich Marzolph, who mentions in The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia that ghouls are giant creatures: "The "ghoul is a giant cannibal jinnî ..." (2004, vol. 2, 535). In fact, this "giant" creature referred to by Marzolph resembles the European ogre rather than the Arabic ghoul. [6] As far as I am aware, there appears to be only one—possibly doubtful—reference to male ghouls residing in graveyards and devouring corpses. This occurs in Hasan M. El-Shamy's major work on the classification of international folktales in the Arab world. El-Shamy includes motif G20.0.2§ (Necrophagus Persons: eaters of dead bodies), in the "motif-spectrum" of tale-type 366A§, Cadaver (Corpse) Reclaims its Canabalized Organs from A Ghoul (Necrophagous Persons), in this work. However, it is not clear from the work whether the tale refers to male or female necrophagous persons. Furthermore, the tale was documented by El-Shamy in Brooklyn, New York, in June 1961, rather than in the Arab world (El-Shamy , 183). As full source details and the content of the tale itself do not appear to be available at this point, the import of the reference must remain unclear until further research on the matter can be carried out

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