Abstract
Among the surviving collections of Yiddish stories from the early modern period, the Mayse-bukh (Book of Stories) is the best known. During the same time, Italian collections of novelle and fiabe di magia (stories of magic) were printed in Italian and translated into other European languages, enjoying wide popularity. In this article I wish to demonstrate how the editio princeps of Mayse-bukh (Basel, 1602), some of its stories already in circulation in Hebrew and Yiddish manuscripts, included fairy tales that were read as such. Readers turned to the 'Book of Stories' that offered not only didactic and moral teachings and rabbinic exempla, but also the enchantment offered by a recognizible fictional dimension.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 121-140 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of Jewish Studies |
| Volume | 71 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. All rights reserved.
Funding
I am grateful to Simon Neuberg for his generous help and to Andrea Schatz for her brilliant suggestions. I also would like to thank Rona Tausinger for her constant assistence. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1088/14).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Israel Science Foundation | 1088/14 |
RAMBI Publications
- RAMBI Publications
- Maase-Buch
- Fairy tales -- Italy
- Tales, Yiddish -- History and criticism