Research Information System
Milli Folklor, vol.23, no.90, pp.101-114, 2011 (Scopus)
This paper has two main elements as its starting points: one of them is Nasraddin Hodja, and the other is the polyvalent and interpolated thoughts and inferences, which are generally referred to as “fuzzy logic.” This paper will make an attempt at understanding an intellectual convergence of literature and science. While said studies contain very few publications as to his historical and intellectual identity, most studies emphasize the significance of his collective identity which is by now deeply amalgamated into history and culture. This paper will not intend to present those details. Instead, it will investigate and analyze Nasraddin Hodja’s jokes from a perspective that has not been studied until today. Nasraddin Hodja will not be presented with emphasis on his ironic and witty humor, and therefore will not be merely Nasraddin Hodja, but will also become “Fuzzy” Nasraddin Hodja. Who is Fuzzy Nasraddin Hodja? What meaning underlies Nasraddin Hodja’s fuzziness? Or is Nasraddin Hodja really fuzzy? Or is such fuzziness merely a quality attributed to him by modern people? With a view to find answers to such questions, this study will set out on a journey in the domains of logic and thought, taking a snapshot of the mental world of Fuzzy Nasraddin Hodja, which is to be dealt with in the framework of the new order and way of thinking shaped by the “Fuzzy Logic,” and jokes that are each a product of mentioned mental world. In this way, an attempt will be made at contextualizing the meanings expressed in his jokes in the thinking of the Turkish society.