______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.240 February 18, 1994 1) Schindler's List (Hershl Berman) 2) Yiddish Writers and Non-Jews (Sean Martin) 3) On the nasal ayin and E-mail terminology (Yude Rozof) 4) Introduction + Music Hearsay (Bret Werb) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Feb 16 00:14:24 1994 From: Hal Berman Subject: Schindler's List. When I originally posted my letter about Schindler's list, I meant for it to be a discussion about the role of Yiddish in the movie. I know that a lot of us have seen the movie and from the comments I have read there is a lot of discussion. Several times I have felt a desire to write a response to comments I've read. But I haven't. A discussion of the merits of the movie and its criticism is not appropriate to this network. I have debated the movie on two other listservers and it is interesting to see what comes out. I would be happy to direct anyone who askes me to the appropriate Holocaust network, however I am really more interested in seeing this group as a forum for discussions about Yiddish. Others I have "spoken" to in private conversation share this view. Hershl Berman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Feb 15 22:38:45 1994 From: Sean A Martin Subject: Yiddish Writers and Non-Jews For a graduate history seminar, I am writing a paper on Yiddish writers and their attitude toward non-Jews. I'm looking especially at Yiddish writers in interwar Poland. My interest in this issue stems from a general interest in relations between Poles and Jews, but, more specifically, from an article by Chone Shmeruk, "Jews and Poles in Yiddish Literature in Interwar Poland." (Title approximate, Polin, v. 1, 1986) Shmeruk identifies portrayals of Poles by Yiddish writers as a marginal phenomenon. Nonetheless, he also says that much more needs to be known about this topic. I'm particularly interested in contacts the Yiddish-speaking intelligentsia had with Polish culture and how this affected, or didn't affect, their work. The writers I have looked at so far include Zusman Segalovitch, Meylekh Ravitch, I. J. Singer, I. B. Singer, Yisroel Rabon, and Sholem Asch. I'm also relying heavily on the Trunk and Tsaytlin anthology of Yiddish prose in Poland between the wars. I'd really like suggestions on memoirs by Yiddish writers from this time period as well as works which depict Poles or non-Jews, whether they take place in the interwar period or not. In reviewing some of this material, I've noticed several works in which the Polish character appears as some kind of domestic help (Asch's "Koyler gesl," Bashevis' "Di Veshin" and Shosha, and I. J. Singer's "Altshtot"). Should I attach any importance to this observation? Any comments or suggestions are very much appreciated. A sheynem dank. Sean Martin 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Feb 15 17:36:11 1994 From: jrosof@sas.upenn.edu (Jeremy S Rosof) Subject: On the nasal ayin and E-mail terminology Kh'bin zeyer tsufridn mit abonoment tsu Mendele shoyn opgeredt az se'kost mir nisht keyn groshnke. Der tokhn fun zhurnal iz a mekhaye tsu leyenen. A por kashes vi oykhet a firleyg tsi tsvey: Ershtens vos iz di geshikte funem ayin in yidishland un tsvishn di eyropeyishe yidn biklal? Vu hot men aroysgeredt dem ayin mit a "n" tsi a "ny"? Tsveytns vil ikh kumen tsun a vort vegn terminologye. Kh'veys nisht tsi se'gefint zikh af der reshime fun Yidish Lige terminen af E-mail ober ot breng ikh far kahal a por firleygn, efsher veln zey arayngeyn in banitz oyb mir hobn shoyn nisht di shayekhdike terminologye. Af e-mail volt natirlikh geven tsu zogn "elektropost" ober farvos nisht oykhet "blitzpost"? Un lesof, mayn zum grestn oysgefinenish: meshalekh zayn a blitzl ! Zol kahal moykhl zayn oyb ot der groyser inevator (ikh) hot gehat a sakh toeses haloshn- ikh zits do on an uriel in der hant. --Yude Rozof 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Feb 15 13:35:53 1994 From: "Werb, Bret C." Subject: Introduction + Music Hearsay Bret Werb tapping in.. Born Los Angeles, aged thirties, musicologist. Recently married. Working as a consultant to US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington DC. Both parents are native Yiddish speakers; myself I don't speak at all (feels too clumsy) but can cope with written text, esp if there's lots of time. The workplace only recently signed on to Internet and reception/transmission is still spotty. But when I find time and the file (via columbia.edu), I read through Mendele's archives. Thank you for creating this service! I recall seeing in the archives a request for information about a Yiddish tune sung in Vietnamese. 2-3 years ago, in LA's Chinatown, I too heard a Vietnamese rendition of a familiar hit from the Yiddish theater. The song was "Dona Dona Dona." When I asked the lady in the booth the song's title, she said: "Dona Dona Dona." The song is an international hit, so a Vietnamese version didn't surprise me enough to make me want to buy the cassette. It's possible that the Vietnamese artists learned it from the French, as your correspondent supposes, or (my guess) from a Japanese commercial recording. Anyway, this ends my first transmission. Thanks again for Mendele. Bret Werb ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.240 To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. 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