The Value Judgements in Nasreddin Hodja`s Jokes and Education

Nasreddin Hodja can be a regarded as a socialist due to his perspective of society and society`s values, as a psychologist due to his interpretation to deepness of spirit, and as a humour due to the fact that he successfully blend it with elaborateness and sensation. What makes him still alive even today’s world is the fact that his jokes are widely known all around the world but not just in Turkish culture. In his anecdotes the main issues which are considered about human nature are mainly its cynical sides, mistakes, attitudes towards reformation, weaknesses and human relationships. Those issues are addressed based on the respect and love towards the people, society and the environment The aim of his short stories is written with the objective of making people think while they burst into laugh. This point of view has to be initial point for evaluating short stories. Contrary to the structure in his stories is based on an ironical basis, he aimed to make people realized their own mistakes by witty remarks for people to become proficient at understanding their mistakes so that they can improve themselves. To have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of his stories one should also be aware of the places mentioned, the personalities of the characters, lifestyles and the value judgements made by those characters. Evaluating his jokes shows that these short stories are based on social cultural perspective which is transmitted instead of didactic and theoretical information with the reality of life. In the anecdotes, the values of social life have provided the cross sections.

Keywords

Nasreddin Hodja, values, anecdotes, society, value judgement, social and cultural perspective, educa