| Description |
1 online resource (816) |
| Series |
Raphael Patai series in Jewish folklore and anthropology |
|
Book collections on Project MUSE
|
| Contents |
Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of Abbreviations; Preface; Part I. Cultural, Literary, and Comparative Perspectives in Sefer ha-ma'asim; 1. Sefer ha-ma'asim: A Compilation of Medieval Hebrew Tales in Northern France; 2. The Reworking of Jewish Sources and Their Integration into Sefer ha-ma'asim; 3. Non-Jewish Sources: Editing, Adaptation, and Hermeneutic Horizons; Part II. A Diplomatic Edition of Sefer ha-ma'asim: A Hebrew Transcription with Notes and an English Translation |
|
Part III. An Analytical and Comparative Overview: Sefer ha-ma'asim, Its Tales, and Its ParallelsAppendix A. Facsimile Pages; Appendix B. List of Tales in Sefer ha-ma'asim; Appendix C. List of Texts in Ms. Bodl. Or. 135 (1466); Appendix D. Indexes of Tale Types and Motifs; Glossary; Epilogue: Tales in Context-A Historical Perspective by Elisheva Baumgarten; Bibliography: Manuscripts, Primary Sources, and Studies; Index of Tales; Index |
| Summary |
In the thirteenth century, an anonymous scribe compiled sixty-nine tales that became Sefer ha-ma'asim, the earliest compilation of Hebrew tales known to us in Western Europe. The author writes that the stories encompass "descriptions of herbs that cure leprosy, a fairy princess with golden tresses using magic charms to heal her lover's wounds and restore him to life; a fire-breathing dragon . . . a two-headed creature and a giant's daughter for whom the rind of a watermelon containing twelve spies is no more than a speck of dust." In Tales in Context: Sefer ha-ma'asim in Medieval Northern France, Rella Kushelevsky enlightens the stories' meanings and reflects the circumstances and environment for Jewish lives in medieval France. Although a selection of tales was previously published, this is the first publication of a Hebrew-English annotated edition in its entirety, revealing fresh insight. The first part of Kushelevsky's work, "Cultural, Literary and Comparative Perspectives," presents the thesis that Sefer ha-ma'asim is a product of its time and place, and should therefore be studied within its literary and cultural surroundings, Jewish and vernacular, in northern France. An investigation of the scribe's techniques in reworking his Jewish and non-Jewish sources into a medieval discourse supports this claim. The second part of the manuscript consists of the tales themselves, in Hebrew and English translation, including brief comparative comments or citations. The third part, "An Analytical and Comparative Overview," offers an analysis of each tale as an individual unit, contextualized within its medieval framework and against the background of its parallels. Elisheva Baumgarten's epilogue adds social and historical background to Sefer ha-ma'asim and discusses new ways in which it and other story compilations may be used by historians for an inquiry into the everyday life of medieval Jews. The tales in Sefer ha-ma'asim will be of special value to scholars of folklore and medieval European history and literature, as well as those looking to enrich their studies and shelves.Table of Contents |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 723-754) and index |
| Notes |
Includes text in Hebrew and English on facing pages |
|
Description based on print version record |
| Subject |
Bodleian Library. Manuscript. Bodley 135
|
| SUBJECT |
Manuscript (Bodleian Library) fast |
| Subject |
Jews -- Study and teaching.
|
|
Jewish way of life.
|
|
Jews -- France -- Folklore
|
|
Jews -- France -- Folklore
|
|
Tales, Medieval.
|
|
Folklore -- Jews
|
|
RELIGION / Judaism / General.
|
|
Folklore -- Jews
|
|
Jewish way of life
|
|
Jews
|
|
Jews -- Study and teaching
|
|
Tales, Medieval
|
|
France
|
| Genre/Form |
Folklore
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| LC no. |
2017951958 |
| ISBN |
0814342728 |
|
9780814342725 |
|
