Hodja Stories

When I was very young my Father often travelled to Turkey for business. Not surprisingly to those who know me, I insisted on a gift every trip. I received my first book of Hodja stories before I could read them, but, thanks to my Mother's willingness to help out, I soon knew them well. And I am glad to say that my taste for the Hodja brand of humour remains strong till today.

A few years ago, when I first made myself a homepage, I could find precious little Hodja material on the net. In those days, not being able to find something meant it wasn't there; not like now, when there is a lot of useful stuff on the web, but you can't locate it, because of all the rubbish. Anyway, I collected what there was, added a little of my own, and made this public. The many keen responses I received made the effort very worthwhile.

Where does my Hodja site go from here? I would like to have the time and resources to research the Hodja phenomenon. The stories spread out of Turkey already many centuries ago, at an ever-increasing rate, and I think much could be told about different societies from careful study of how the Hodja stories were retold in different places and times. But such projects are going to have to wait. For now, my original collection of stories appears below, supplemented with two further collections, an official Turkish Hodja anthology, and the "Once The Hodja" version of the stories, by Alice Geer Kelsey.

Anybody with other interesting material and/or information on the Hodja is warmly encouraged to mail me.

The "Hodja Brand" picture above is from a carton of Turkish figs.


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The Stories

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Note on copyright: in keeping with the public domain spirit of the Hodja stories, I assume the original producers of the material used here would be only too happy to see their work posted on a fellow Hodja admirer's personal web page. If this is not so, just let me know, and I will remove the relevant links.

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Once The Hodja

by Alice Geer Kelsey, illustrated by Frank Dobias

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Nasreddin Hodja

by Alpay Kabacali, illustrated by Fatih M. Durmus

An article about Hodja, from Azerbaijan International Magazine. Many familiar stories! Click here to read the article in Azeri.


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