Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster
Joha has Janus’s double face: On the one hand, he is innocent and stupid; on the other, a trickster. He is a cheater and is cheated. He sets traps for others and falls into traps himself; he is simpleton and liar, victimizer and victim. But as a literary figure he never dies. The nearly 300 stories in this lovely volume are from Sephardic oral literature and ethnic culture. They were told to Matilda Koen-Sarano in their original language, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), and documented over 21 years....
Search in google:
"Aficionados of folktales, Jewish humor, and Sephardic culture will delight in this collection of nearly 300 stories about the simpleminded but often guileful Joha." Recounted by over 80 different narrators from 17 countries, the stories tell the fictional adventures and anecdotes of this lovable figure well known in Sephardic communities all over the world.
\ Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter"This is a wonderful collection of folktales [that] educate by means of example and evoke laughter, reflecting a past rich in history, culture, and traditions."—Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter\ \ \ \ \ Congress Monthly"Marvelous and funny collection of hundreds of Joha stories assembled by folklorist Matilda Koen-Sarano and felicitously translated by David Herman. . . . Read Matilda Koen-Sarano's laugh-out-loud collection."—Congress Monthly\ \
