Culture of Odessa
Encyclopedia
The Culture of Odessa is a unique blend of Russian
, Yiddish, and Ukrainian cultures, and Odessa
itself has played a notable role in Russian and Yiddish folklore.
as spoken in Odessa is influenced by Yiddish
and Ukrainian
in grammar
, vocabulary
, and phraseology
. As a result, many phrases sound inherently and uniquely humorous to Russian speakers and constitute a staple of Odessa humour. Also, the Odessa dialect of Yiddish has plenty of Russianism
s.
culture is influenced by The Odessa Tales
of Isaak Babel. Odessa is often referred to by the collocation
"Odessa Mama", a term that originated in Russian criminal (blatnoy) subculture. The reputation of the city as a criminal center originated in Imperial Russian times and the early Soviet era, and is similar to the reputation of Al Capone
era Chicago
.
and Russian humor.
Since 1972 Odessa has been hosting the annual festival of humor, Humorina
. For this and other reasons Odessa was known as the "capital of humor" in the Soviet Union.
Russian culture
Russian culture is associated with the country of Russia and, sometimes, specifically with ethnic Russians. It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture...
, Yiddish, and Ukrainian cultures, and Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
itself has played a notable role in Russian and Yiddish folklore.
Odessa language
The Russian languageRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
as spoken in Odessa is influenced by Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
in grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, vocabulary
Vocabulary
A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...
, and phraseology
Phraseology
In linguistics, phraseology is the study of set or fixed expressions, such as idioms, phrasal verbs, and other types of multi-word lexical units , in which the component parts of the expression take on a meaning more specific than or otherwise not predictable from the sum of their meanings when...
. As a result, many phrases sound inherently and uniquely humorous to Russian speakers and constitute a staple of Odessa humour. Also, the Odessa dialect of Yiddish has plenty of Russianism
Russianism
Russianism, Russism, or Russicism is an influence of Russian language on other languages. In particular, Russianisms are Russian or russified words, expressions, or grammar constructs used in Slavic languages, languages of CIS states and languages of the Russian Federation.However, the scope of the...
s.
Cultural image of Odessa
To a significant extent the image of Odessa in RussophoneRussophone
A Russophone is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial...
culture is influenced by The Odessa Tales
The Odessa Tales
The Odessa Tales is a collection of short stories by Isaac Babel, situated in Odessa in the last days of the Russian empire and the Russian Revolution. Published individually in magazines throughout 1923 and 1924 and collected into a book in 1931, they deal primarily with a group of Jewish thugs...
of Isaak Babel. Odessa is often referred to by the collocation
Collocation
In corpus linguistics, collocation defines a sequence of words or terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance. In phraseology, collocation is a sub-type of phraseme. An example of a phraseological collocation is the expression strong tea...
"Odessa Mama", a term that originated in Russian criminal (blatnoy) subculture. The reputation of the city as a criminal center originated in Imperial Russian times and the early Soviet era, and is similar to the reputation of Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
era Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Odessa humor
The Odessa humor is a notable part of both Jewish humorJewish humor
Jewish humour is the long tradition of humour in Judaism dating back to the Torah and the Midrash from the ancient mid-east, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal, self-deprecating, crude, and often anecdotal humour originating in Eastern Europe and which took root in the United...
and Russian humor.
Since 1972 Odessa has been hosting the annual festival of humor, Humorina
Humorina
Humorina is an annual festival of humor held in Odessa, Ukraine on and around the April Fools' Day since 1973. It was invented in 1972 by the Odessa KVN team after the all-Union KVN contests and the corresponding TV show were discontinued....
. For this and other reasons Odessa was known as the "capital of humor" in the Soviet Union.
"Odessa Mama"
Many places in Odessa are memorable not only for their intrinsic cultural value, but also for their place in Odessa folklore.- Duc de RichelieuArmand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de RichelieuArmand Emmanuel Sophie Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis, 5th Duke of Richelieu was a prominent French statesman during the Bourbon Restoration...
monument - Deribasovskaya
- Moldovanka
- Odessa CatacombsOdessa CatacombsThe Odessa Catacombs are an estimated 2,500 kilometres of labyrinths stretching out under the city and surrounding region of Odessa, Ukraine. The majority of the catacombs are the result of stone mining....
- Potemkin StairsPotemkin StairsThe Potemkin Stairs , is a giant stairway in Odessa, Ukraine. The stairs are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odessa....
- Primorsky Boulevard
- Privoz MarketPrivoz MarketThe famous Privoz market, located at 14 Privoz Street, is the largest food market in Odessa, Ukraine.Privoz began in 1827, when wares were sold from the back of horse driven carts....
Odessa Jews
The History of Russian Jews in Odessa may be traced to the days of the founding of the city.See also
- Isaac BabelIsaac BabelIsaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
- Benya KrikBenya KrikBenya Krik is a fictional Russian gangster of Jewish descent, whose gang of thugs is the main subject of Isaak Babel's collection of short stories The Odessa Tales. He also plays a prominent role in Babel's play Sunset...
- David NowakowskyDavid NowakowskyDavid Nowakowsky was a Russian/Ukrainian Jewish composer, choirmaster and music teacher. Along with several contemporaries, Nowakowsky integrated traditional Jewish liturgical modes with western harmonies and styles, reinvigorating music for the synagogue. He was also noted as the music director...
- Ilf and PetrovIlf and PetrovIlya Ilf Ilya Ilf Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Faynzilberg and Evgeny or Yevgeni Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Kataev or Katayev were two Soviet prose authors of the 1920s and 1930s...
- Mikhail ZhvanetskyMikhail ZhvanetskyMikhail Mikhaylovich Zhvanetsky is a famous Soviet and Russian satiric writer and stand-up comedian...