bibliography, book, canon, England, Europe, folk fool, France, German, Germany, Greece, historical figure, Italy, primary source, research, Russia, Spain, Turkey
Published in 1789, Flögel’s hefty 500+ page history of court jesters is breathtaking in its scope and scholarship; arguably the first serious such sweeping study in any Western language. It is the well-spring from which many subsequent leading works draw,...
20th century, fictive fool, primary source, quotes, Russia, Russian, stories
Russia has a long and noble tradition of holy fools, and I was struck by this spontaneous example from the Second World War recounted by Vasily Grossman. It seems it was an old soldier who had enough oddity or madness about him to be perceived as a holy fool by his...
