"As the repertoire of an isolated, archaizing minority, which has lived for centuries in contact with Balkan, Near Eastern, and North African cultures, the ballad tradition of the Spanish-speaking Sephardic Jews constitutes one of the most distinctive and interesting branches of the Hispanic romancero. In regard to its archaism, Judeo-Spanish balladry is comparable, perhaps, to that of other Hispanic lateral areas, such as the Portuguese tradition of Trás-os-Montes, the Azores, and Madeira or the Castilian repertoires of León and Zamora Provinces and of the Canary Islands. In a Pan-European perspective, one could compare the Sephardic tradition with that of Iceland and the Faroe Islands; of the German speech-island of Gottschee (Slovenia) and, to a lesser degree, of other, more recently settled "East German" communities; or again with the folksongs of French Canada and Louisiana, or even, perhaps, with certain features of Anglo-American balladry."--Opening paragraph
