- The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies
- List of Contributors
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- The Nature of Jewish Studies
- Biblical Studies and Jewish Studies
- Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period
- The Literature of the Second Temple Period
- Historiography on the Jews in the ‘Talmudic Period’ (70–640 ce)
- Classical Rabbinic Literature
- The Narratives of Medieval Jewish History
- Medieval Jewry In Christendom
- Medieval Jewry in the World of Islam
- Rabbinic Literature in the Middle Ages 1000–1492
- The Study of Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages: Major Trends and Goals
- Medieval Karaism
- Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries since 1492
- European Jewry in the Early Modern Period: 1492–1750
- Western and Central European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1933
- Eastern European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1939
- The Holocaust
- Settlement and State in Eretz Israel
- American Jewish History
- The Hebrew Language
- Modern Hebrew Literature
- Yiddish Studies
- Judaeo-Spanish Studies
- Judaeo-Arabic and Judaeo-Persian
- Other Diaspora Jewish Literatures Since 1492
- Halacha and Law
- Bible Interpretation
- Mysticism
- Jewish Liturgy and Jewish Scholarship: Method and Cosmology
- Jewish Philosophy and Theology
- Jewish Women's Studies
- Demography
- Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
- Music
- Jewish Theatre
- Jewish and Israeli Film Studies
- Anti-Semitism Research
- Jewish Folklore and Ethnography
- Modern Jewish Society and Sociology
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This article describes folklore as a unique form of cultural creativity and expression and discusses Jewish folklore through the ages and the scholarship of Jewish folklore. Folklore is a form of creativity and expression that exists in all the cultures we know. It is characterized by its qualities of collectivity and tradition, by its oral mode of expression, and usually by anonymity. Folklore is created and transmitted among individuals and groups through all the audio-visual interpersonal channels of communication. The discussion offers remarks on the field of folkloristics, to facilitate the application of accepted general terminology to the survey of Jewish folklore. The collective aspect of folklore is expressed both in the immediate interaction established between performer and audience, and in the concept of authority and ownership of the work, that is considered as belonging to the group and not an individual.
Keywords: Jewish folklore, cultural creativity, folkloristics, oral tradition, collectivity
Galit Hasan-Rokem is Max and Margarethe Grunwald Professor of Folklore, Professor of Hebrew Literature, and Head of the Institute for Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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- The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies
- List of Contributors
- List of Abbreviations
- Preface
- The Nature of Jewish Studies
- Biblical Studies and Jewish Studies
- Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period
- The Literature of the Second Temple Period
- Historiography on the Jews in the ‘Talmudic Period’ (70–640 ce)
- Classical Rabbinic Literature
- The Narratives of Medieval Jewish History
- Medieval Jewry In Christendom
- Medieval Jewry in the World of Islam
- Rabbinic Literature in the Middle Ages 1000–1492
- The Study of Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages: Major Trends and Goals
- Medieval Karaism
- Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries since 1492
- European Jewry in the Early Modern Period: 1492–1750
- Western and Central European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1933
- Eastern European Jewry in the Modern Period: 1750–1939
- The Holocaust
- Settlement and State in Eretz Israel
- American Jewish History
- The Hebrew Language
- Modern Hebrew Literature
- Yiddish Studies
- Judaeo-Spanish Studies
- Judaeo-Arabic and Judaeo-Persian
- Other Diaspora Jewish Literatures Since 1492
- Halacha and Law
- Bible Interpretation
- Mysticism
- Jewish Liturgy and Jewish Scholarship: Method and Cosmology
- Jewish Philosophy and Theology
- Jewish Women's Studies
- Demography
- Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
- Music
- Jewish Theatre
- Jewish and Israeli Film Studies
- Anti-Semitism Research
- Jewish Folklore and Ethnography
- Modern Jewish Society and Sociology
- Index
