Culture of Odessa

The culture of Odessa is a unique blend of Russian, Yiddish, and Ukrainian cultures, and Odessa itself has played a notable role in Russian and Yiddish folklore.[1]

Dialects

The Russian language as spoken in Odessa 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 Odessa humour. Also, the Odessa dialect of Yiddish has plenty of Russianisms.[1]

Cultural image of Odessa

To a significant extent the image of Odessa in Russophone culture is influenced by The Odessa Tales of Isaak Babel. Odessa is often referred to by the collocation "Odessa Mama" (Mom Odessa), 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]

Odessa humor

Odessa humor is a notable part of both Jewish humor and Russian humor.

Since 1972 Odessa has been hosting the annual festival of humor, Humorina. For this and other reasons Odessa was known as the "capital of humor" in the Soviet Union.[3]

"Odessa Mama"
Main article: Odessa

Many places in Odessa are memorable not only for their intrinsic cultural value, but also for their place in Odessa folklore.

Footnotes
  1. 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
  2. Roshanna P. Sylvester, " Tales of Old Odessa: Crime and Civility in a City of Thieves" (2005) ISBN 0-87580-346-6
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References
  • Maurice Friedberg, "How Things Were Done in Odessa: Cultural and Intellectual Pursuits in a Soviet City" (1991) ISBN 0-8133-7987-3 (The book is about the life and culture of Odessa of the Soviet era. Its title is an allusion to a Babel's short story "How Things Were Done in Odessa" from The Odessa Tales)
  • Anatoli Barbakaru, "Odessa-Mama: Kataly, Kidaly, Shulera" (1999) ISBN 5-04-002856-3 (in Russian)
  • Rebecca Stanton, "Identity Crisis: The Literary Cult and Culture of Odessa 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 Odessa's Jewish Intelligentsia during the Late-Tsarist Period,'' Jewish Culture and History 16, 3-4, 2014, 210-224.
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