Bar–Itzhak: Studia 7

STUDIA MYTHOLOGICA SLAVICA
| Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU

STUDIA MYTHOLOGICA SLAVICA 7, 2004

Haya Bar–Itzhak:

Folklore As An Expression of Intercultural Communication Between Jews and Poles – King Jan III Sobieski in Jewish Legends

Abstract

This article examines the use of Jewish legends in Poland about the Polish king Jan III Sobieski as a means of folkloristic inter-cultural communication. The two extant legends dealing with the figure of Jan Sobieski are discussed. One of the legends exists in two versions: an eighteenth century version originating in the ‘Beit Ya’akov’ manuscript and a second version, which was written down by the Jewish scholar of folklore B.W. Segel and published in 1899. The second legend was recorded by the Polish Armenian clergyman Bar¹cz Sadok from the oral tradition of the Jewish community of ¯ólkiew. The legends are examined from various facets, such as their cultural context, the literary patterns of the culture hero, narrative roles, and their deep structure.

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