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
Main article: Odesan Russian

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

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

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

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.[3]

"Odesa Mama"
Main article: Odesa

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

References
  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
  3. Малая энциклопедия городов. 2001. ISBN 9789666700059.

Further reading
  • 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.
  • Humor in Odesa: Traditions and Modern Times
  • Steven J. Zipperstein, The Jews of Odessa: A Cultural History, 1794-1881
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