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A man wearing a Nasreddin Hoja costume poses with children during Eid al-Fitr at Sunnyside Gardens Park in New York. Volkan Furuncu/Anadolu via Getty Images

April 22, 2026

What a Muslim folk trickster can teach us about the danger of holding a single worldview

Perin Gürel, University of Notre Dame

The folk tales of Nasreddin Hoja, which likely originated in 13th-century Turkey, carry many lessons for us today.

A Ukrainian soldier wanders down a railway past the bodies of dead Russian soldiers on the outskirts of Irpin, Ukraine, March 1, 2022. Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

March 31, 2023

How fairy tales shape fighting spirit: Ukraine’s children hear bedtime stories of underdog heroes, while Russian children hear tales of magical success

Mia M. Bloom, Georgia State University and Sophia Moskalenko, Georgia State University

The Russian army has fared poorly and the Ukrainian military has fared well, defying experts’ predictions about the war in Ukraine. Can children’s fairy tales help explain the difference?

October 8, 2018

How African American folklore saved the cultural memory and history of slaves

Jennifer dos Reis dos Santos, Aberystwyth University

For African slaves, folk tales were a way of remembering their past and keeping their culture alive.

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Jennifer dos Reis dos Santos
Aberystwyth University
Sophia Moskalenko
Research Fellow in Social Psychology, Georgia State University
Mia M. Bloom
Professor of Communication and Middle East Studies, Georgia State University
Perin Gürel
Associate Professor of American Studies, University of Notre Dame

Articles on Folk tales

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