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Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction

Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

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Page 1: Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

Yiddish Literatureand Film

Introduction

Page 2: Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION

“Since childhood I have known three dead languages,

Ancient Hebrew,

Aramaic, and Yiddish.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shosha

Page 3: Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

Yiddish Language

The language of Ashkenazic

(Central and East European) Jews.

Developed in the 13th century.

Became a written language in the 16th century.

“Yiddish” = Jewish

Yiddish – mame loshn, “mother tongue”

Hebrew - loshn koydesh, “holy tongue”

Page 4: Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

TERRITORIES WHERE YIDDISH DIALECTS WERE SPOKEN

Page 5: Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

Yiddishkeit

YIDDISHKEIT,

“the essence ofJewishness”:

• Food

• Humour

• Cultural practices

• Religious traditions

• Yiddish language (or its traces)

• Music

• Folklore (tales, legends, songs)

Page 6: Yiddish Literature and Film Introduction. A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION “Since childhood I have known three dead languages, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and

YIDDISH MUSIC, LITERATURE, ART, AND CINEMA

Music: the most traditional Jewish art form. The best-survived aspect of Yiddishkeit.

Literature: based on folklore, rabbinical teachings, and a special value of learning. Takes roots in the tradition of sacredness of the written word/adoration of the holy writings. Preserves the “disappeared civilization.”

Art: a recent secular development, mostly expressing nostalgia for the past.

Cinema: 1) old: a shadow of the “disappeared civilization”; 2) new: reestablishing connections with the roots and cultural identity.