Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.018 June 19, 1996 1) Introduction (Sylvia Schildt) 2) Three aspects of Yiddish (Bob Hirshan) 3) Graphomania (Bob Werman) 4) Fargin, farginen (Bob Werman) 5) Plays and operettas Franz Kafka saw (Pawel Dorman) 6) Translation standards (Bob Rothstein) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 12:30:36 +0000 From: creativa@charm.net Subject: Introduction mit hartzike grusn tzu ale mendeleyners ... shoyn derlebt a mendeleynerke tzu vern. erloybt mir ikh zol zikh far aykh forshteln. ikh bin a produkt fun arberter-ring shul system, un a graduant fun lerer seminar. ikh hob nit lang tzurik ungeheybn unfirn classn far dervaksene do in boltimor -- baym boltimor "hebrew university" unoykh in a "high school adult ed" program. als kind hob ikh geshribn yidishe poezie un esayen un itzt hob ikh vider ungeheybn poeteven af mame loshn. ikh hob forgeleyent (deklamirt iz efsher mer tzu der zakh) (baym Mame Loshn 96) mayns a lid vos heyst "Nokh a Lid L'koved Yidish" un tzu di mentshn vos hobn mir gebetn ikh zol zey shikn vil ikh zogn az ikh hob nit faregesn -- es kumt, es kumt.ikh shrayb tzuersht in yidish. nokhdem makh ikh an ibertaytsh of english un amol aykh of frantzeyzish. ikh greyt tzu a bikhele poezie (mersntns libe lider) ikh hob do in boltimor gegrindet a naye yidishe organizatzie "Yidish fun Groys Boltimor" vos probirt tzu bringen tzu di hige yidn epes a tam fun shprakh un kultur. ikh bin ibertzaygt az der kium fun yidish ligt nit mit lernen dervaksene nor mit lernen dem yugnt. ober men darf oykh ibertzaygn di dervaksene az es hot epes a vert lernen mame loshn. do bay undz iz men oder sentimental iber yidish ("mayn bobe hot geredt ..." ) oder men zogt shoyn kadish iber yidish. nit genug derekh eretz tzu mame loshn -- mentshn do zogn, ikh vil lernen mer yidish, ober ikh vil zikh nit bamiyen oystulernen nit kin alef-beyz nt kin gramatik. dos rayst mir baym hartzn. aza gedanken volt men zikh nit gevagt oyszuzogn in a klas fun frantzoyzish, hebreyish, shpanish, oder l'havdl, daytsh. ikh hob gefunen naye kaykhes un bagaysterung baym mame loshn sof vokh un greyt zikh vayter tzu der arbet.tzum kamf...kinderlekh. efsher gefinen zikh vu bahaltn in boltimor yidishistn vos voltn undz gekent aroyshelfn ??? nokh a kleyn bamerkung gevidmet dovid opatashun. ikh gedenk nokh dem moment ven zayn mame, adele (keyner hot ir nomen nit dermont in di annonsn) hot far undz, ire mitl shul talmidim, zikh barimt mit zayn ershtn erfolg in Hollywood (Naked City.)der tate zayner flegt oykh fun tzayt tzu tzayt unkumen in mitl shul binyan (Washington Irving HS) a shabes oder a zuntik. tzi hot dovid kinder gehat? zoln zay ale 3 dermont vern mit libshaft un derekh eretz far zeyere bamiyungen l'koved mame loshn. shraybt mir -- ikh ervart mit umgeduld mayn erstn mendele briv. Sylvia Schildt 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 1996 11:55:57 -0400 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Three aspects of Yiddish As one who has been a "lurker", by marriage, for the past several years, I believe the long running discussion trying to answer the question "Is Yiddish dying?" is basically flawed because the wrong question is being asked. The real question should be, "Which part of Yiddish is dying?". From all the postings in the past years it is clear to me that the "Yiddish" being talked about has three aspects. A. The Yiddish of academia. B. The spoken Khasidic Yiddish. C. The feeling of nostalgia for the Yiddish word and the connection to the culture of the shtetl. (Obviously one may feel connected to more than one aspect, but the question remains.) Numerous postings attribute to the fact that the Yiddish of academia is alive and flourishing. One cannot doubt that Khasidic Yiddish is vibrant and growing. I can attest to the Yiddish I have heard spoken by boys while playing a baseball game. It was a shock to hear "throw it" in Yiddish. As our generation and the next generations pass on, will the feelings of nostalgia pass on as well, or will time take its toll on nostalgia? It is apparent to me, as I observe the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of my friends, that time is winning. I believe that nostalgia cannot be taught, it must be caught. Which part of Yiddish is dying? Academic Yiddish will keep the Yiddish literature and culture of the past thousand years alive. Khasidic Yiddish will keep a vibrant and evolving spoken Yiddish alive. Only the Yiddish of nostalgia will disappear in future generations. The real problem may not be the dying of a language but rather the fact that people fail to accept the three aspects as equal partners in "Yiddish". Bob Hirshan Boynton Beach, FL 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 96 20:59 +0200 From: rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il Subject: Graphomania revisited I assume that enough time has gone by to ask again, if ever so politely. I last asked in vol 3.289, March 16, 1994, and hope that a new generation of readers will be more responsive. I received zero [0!] answers to my last posting. The subject is graphomania, a concept common in Yiddish literary analysis as well as in Hebrew literary analysis and foreign to me as a reader of English/American literature. The idea is that too many people write too much junk, putting a burden on poor overworked editors, etc. Too many untalented people. Surely we native English speakers are not less prolix in our writing habits?! But we only have untalented writers, hopelessly inadequate scribblers, etc. But no graphomaniacs. Can anyone help with the origin of graphomania as a concept, linguistically, ideationally? Thanks. Bob Werman Jerusalem 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 96 21:02 +0200 From: rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il Subject: Fargin, farginen Can anyone help with the origin of the word/concept, fargin? The word has slipped into modern Hebrew from the Yiddish too and we learn that Israel lacks only two things, neft [oil deposits] and firgun [letting others bask in their success without envy, spite or ridicule]. Thanks in advance. Bob Werman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Jun 96 10:13:56 CET From: dorman@plearn.edu.pl Subject: Plays and operettas Franz Kafka saw If someone is interested (I know from letters that is) with theatre, Franz Kafka and Yiddish, I get a list of plays and operettas seen or read by Franz Kafka (from E.T.Beck "Kafka and the Yiddish Theater") based on Kafka's letters and diaries. I am very interested with it. [The list is rather long and can be had either from the shames or preferably from the undersigned.] To almost all that plays and operettas I can add references, which tell you what Franz Kafka said about it! I will do it on your request. So - please let me know in which are you interested. About the Yiddish theater maybe you want to see: Ignats Shiper, "Geshikhte fun Yidishn Teater, Kunst, un Drame fun di eltere Tsaytn biz 1750", 4 vols, Warsaw, 1923-28. Pawel Brunon Dorman Poland 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 17:46:34 -0400 (EDT) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: Translation standards Several years ago a university press asked me to look at a translation from Yiddish that was under consideration for publication. The editor was surprised when I asked whether I could get a copy of the original text; it had apparently not occurred to her that there was any point in checking the accuracy of the translation. I was reminded of this incident while reading a translation of an essay by the Yiddish literary critic Bal-Makhshoves in a volume published in 1994 by the Jewish Publication Society. I realized that I had a copy of the original and amused myself by reading both versions in parallel. I found myself less and less amused as I noticed some of the things that had been allowed into print. For example: 1. "Zey, di shrayber, hobn mit a mol fargesn, az s'iz shoyn azoy zeyer mazl tsu kleybn shtroy far tsveyerley tsigl, tsu baakern tsveryerley shprakhn." "These writers themselves suddenly forgot that it is their fate to gather straw for two kinds of goats [instead of _bricks_], to acquire [instead of _to cultivate_] two languages." 2. "...di sphrakh fun brener, shofman un and." "...the language of Brenner, Shafman, and And [instead of _others_]. 3. "frantsoyzishn" "Franz Josef". My point here is not so much to criticize the translator (since to err is human--although it doesn't hurt to consult with someone else), but to raise the issue of quality control for translations. Doesn't anyone (editors, publishers, critics) care? It's remarkable, by the way, how rarely reviewers say anything about the quality of a translation--a pet peeve of mine, not on my own behalf (I'm not a translator), but on behalf of colleagues and others whose knowledge and talent I admire and respect. Bob Rothstein ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.018