The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning (Folklore Studies in Translation)

"The most comprehensive account of its subject now available, this impressive study lives up to the encyclopedic promise of its title." -- Choice

The Hebrew Folktale seeks to find and define the folk-elements of Jewish culture. Through the use of generic distinctions and definitions developed in folkloristics, Yassif describes the major trends -- structural, thematic, and functional -- of folk narrative in the central periods of Jewish culture.