Culture of Odesa
The culture of Odesa is a unique blend of Russian, Yiddish, and Ukrainian cultures, and Odesa itself has played a notable role in Russian and Yiddish folklore.[1]
Dialects
[edit]The Russian language as spoken in Odesa is influenced by Yiddish and Ukrainian in grammar, vocabulary, and phraseology. As a result, many phrases sound inherently and uniquely humorous to Russian speakers and constitute a staple of Odesa humour. Also, the Odesa dialect of Yiddish has plenty of Russianisms.[1]
Cultural image of Odesa
[edit]To a significant extent the image of Odesa in Russophone culture is influenced by The Odessa Tales of Isaac Babel. Odesa is often referred to by the collocation "Odesa Mama" (Mom Odesa), a term that originated in Russian criminal (blatnoy) subculture.[1] The reputation of the city as a criminal center originated in Imperial Russian times and the early Soviet era, and is similar to the reputation of Al Capone era Chicago.[2]
Odesa humor
[edit]Odesa humor is a notable part of both Jewish humor and Russian humor.[3]
Since 1972 Odesa has been hosting the annual festival of humor, Humorina. For this and other reasons Odesa was known as the "capital of humor" in the Soviet Union.[4]
Memorable places
[edit]Many places in Odesa are memorable not only for their intrinsic cultural value, but also for their place in Odesa folklore.
- Duc de Richelieu monument
- Derybasivska Street
- Moldavanka
- Odesa catacombs
- Potemkin Stairs
- Prymorskyi Boulevard
- Pryvoz Market
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Robert A. Rothstein, "How It Was Sung in Odessa: At the Intersection of Russian and Yiddish Folk Culture", Slavic Review, vol. 60, no. 4 (2001), pp. 781-801 doi:10.2307/2697495
- ^ Roshanna P. Sylvester, " Tales of Old Odessa: Crime and Civility in a City of Thieves" (2005) ISBN 0-87580-346-6
- ^ Humor in Odesa: Traditions and Modern Times
- ^ Малая энциклопедия городов. 2001. ISBN 9789666700059.
Further reading
[edit]- Maurice Friedberg, "How Things Were Done in Odesa: Cultural and Intellectual Pursuits in a Soviet City" (1991) ISBN 0-8133-7987-3 (The book is about the life and culture of Odesa of the Soviet era. Its title is an allusion to a Babel's short story "How Things Were Done in Odesa" from The Odesa Tales)
- Anatoli Barbakaru, "Odesa-Mama: Kataly, Kidaly, Shulera" (1999) ISBN 5-04-002856-3 (in Russian)
- Rebecca Stanton, "Identity Crisis: The Literary Cult and Culture of Odesa in the Early Twentieth Century", Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Foreign Literatures 57, No. 3 (2003) pp. 117-126.
- Brian Horowitz, ''Myths and Counter-Myths about Odesa's Jewish Intelligentsia during the Late-Tsarist Period,'' Jewish Culture and History 16, 3-4, 2014, 210-224.
- Steven J. Zipperstein, The Jews of Odessa: A Cultural History, 1794-1881
