I propose to define nicknames as a unique folklore genre and to compare it with other mini-genres of folklore. The nickname genre combines known folklore techniques, and conveys its messages by varied poetic means, using play and creation. Nicknames constitute a perfected and ciphered system of signs of the society in which they are created. This practice acts as a two-fold mechanism, which encourages the integration of individuals into the life of the group to which they belong, while encouraging the group as a whole to maintain its norms under changing conditions. I suggest that a group which creates such a system of nicknames for itself, highlights the unity of its members and the will to maintain its traditions, uniqueness and identity. My case study is the former Jewish community of Tetuan, the capital of northern Morocco, from the beginning of the twentieth century until the present time.
I examine processes of cultural accommodation and maintenance of the Sephardic tradition as reflected in anecdotes of the generation who immigrated to Israel. The anecdotes reflect traditions and beliefs of Ladino speakers; I study their folkloric and linguistic aspects, while exposing the elements that create humor and reflect dominant social norms. The anecdotes present the obvious and the concealed tensions in Israeli society, yet they have a universal dimension: social conflicts in contacts between cultures, between ethnic groups, between the generation of the parents and that of the children and grandchildren, between next-door neighbors and between diasporas which converge in one social habitat. The article examines elements of performance, including the place of the storyteller in the storytelling situation and the techniques that generate laughter and identification with a marginal group: the group of Ladino speakers in Israel, as they clash with the hegemonic power in the Israeli society.
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