קונגרס העולמי ה-18 למדעי היהדות

Djoha Stories in Modern Sephardi Folk Literature: Example of Selim Salti

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Nasreddin Hodja stories and similar stories appear in different geographies over various periods, sometimes under the same name and sometimes under similar or different names. These stories vary in genre or content depending on the host culture, geography and time. Living on Anatolian soil for more than 500 years, Sephardi Jews blended their cultural and linguistic heritage with the local languages and cultures existing where they most recently settled under the auspices of the Ottomans and have succeeded to maintain this heritage until now. An example to this is the blending of Nasreddin Hodja jokes, which are the cornerstones of Turkish humor, with their reflection in Sephardi folk literature. This character, best known as Djoha, Djuha or Yoha, continued to teach humor-based `lessons` in the Sephardi culture through stories passed down from one generation to the other. This paper will examine the new Djoha character of the modern world as well as jokes created by Selim Salti. Through a character analysis of Djoha and other main and supporting characters, the places where the stories take place will be identified, and the possible reasons for these choices will be described. Salti`s jokes will be examined in detail for classification of themes, and an attempt will be made to reveal Salti`s motivation in writing these jokes. All these analyses will be supported by the data obtained from the interviews with Selim Salti on September 21 and October 2, 2021.