The Genre of Folk Tales in the Sephardic Culture. Represented in the Context of Literary Works Collected by Matilda Koén-Sarano

The Jewish religion is subdivided into various currents and communities. One of those currents is the group of the Sephardim, the Sephardic Jews. Their ancestors descended from the Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula, from where they were expelled to countries all over the world between the years 1492 and 97 (Toledano 7). During the flight from their Spanish home country, the Sephardim carried with them a rich culture of literature, linguistic skills and scientific knowledge, that they carried to places such as Turkey, Palestine, North Africa or Italy (Toledano 7). The Sephardic literary production was extremely active throughout the years before and after the expulsion and has been partially preserved until today. It contains a broad range of genres and works of sophisticated elaboration. The Jewish-Spanish, the unique language of the Sephardim is conserved in those literary works and can be examined by linguistic and historical researchers. Upon closer examination, the Sephardic folklore, in particular the Sephardic folk tale, contains numerous details and broad information about the life of the Sephardim in past times and functions as a testimony of the cultural, religious, communal and superstitious beliefs that were commonly shared among the community members. By analysing the Sephardic folk tales that were compiled by Matilda Koén-Sarano in the works Folktales of Joha. Jewish Trickster (2003) and King Solomon and the Golden Fish. Tales from the Sephardic Tradition (2004), it is easy to understand social and religious structures of the Sephardim. The folk tales incorporate for example motifs of strictly divided gender roles and, at times, a misogynic attitude by the men towards womankind. Another key thing to mention is that the folk tales give an insight into the religious rites of the Sephardim and how they penetrated the communal life in every daily aspect. With regards to the superstitious beliefs, the narrations show that the people cultivated a strong belief in magical elements and mystical creatures, such as demons