Nasreddin Hodja or Juha?

The Juha tales have always been close to my heart.  For however long I can remember, I’ve known Juha tales and the wit incorporated in the stories has increased my appreciation of people who can talk their way out of tough situations.  Nasreddin Hodja, or Juha as we know in this class has been one of my favorite Arabian folk characters.  His simple and innocent arrival on his donkey to royal summons and common man threats made me wonder as a child as to how simple someone could be.  I used to read a comic book called Tinkle back home in India. It was through this book that I came to know Nasreddin Hodja. 

While reading this book, I could visualize most of the stories in the form of comic strips.  The colorful and vibrant places of ancient Arabia came to my mind.  When I read these stories now after reading Comic Relief, I can see a few theories that I did not see when I laughed over them after middle school.

One thing that comes out to me clearly is the concept of superiority theory.  In most of the stories that were assigned for today’s reading, we could clearly see how Juha uses his wit to make a joke out of people who are vulnerable and gullible. In one story, he tells the robber on the roof to pray to god and catch the beam of light from the moon to get into the house.  The robber falls and then he thinks that Juha is the wisest man on Earth. It surprises me how stupid Juha’s counterparts are. The stupidity of his counterparts make him look wiser than everyone in the story.

Another thing I think is important to enjoy these ‘silly’ stories is to have a phenomenological perspective of the story.  These stories are funny and light only if you experience the story through Juha’s eyes or by having a neutral perspective of the story.  Schadenfreude goes hand in hand with this approach to understanding the story.  The lightness of the tales come from the fact that someone else gets fooled, tricked or outplayed by Juha.

In all, I’ve really liked this book the best so far because its easy to comprehend and easy to relate.