Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 13.010 February 1, 2004 1) Di Yunge Gvardie (Alex Dafner) 2) Cross-dressing in the Yiddish theatre (Ross Bradshaw) 3) Yiddish at the movies (Alain Mihaly) 4) False modesty (Hugh Denman) 5) New book: The Artists of the Kultur-Lige (Zachary Baker) 6) NYBC job posting (Catherine Madsen) 7) Looking for two I.B. Singer stories (Warren Hoffman) 8) "Antlofn fun Varshe" (Sarah Goudge) 9) Ivre taytsh (Jack P. Freer) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 9, 2004 From: Alex Dafner Subject: Di Yunge Gvardie Dear Friends of Yiddish, We have the honor and pleasure to inform you that the January-Teves 2004/5764 - "Australia Day" edition of "Di Yunge Gvardie" has been published on the web site:- http://home.iprimus.com.au/kadimah/gvardie.htm The editors "Di Yunge Gvardie". ( PS: For more information on things Yiddish/Jewish down-under in Australia see:- http://www.jewishaustralia.com/ ) Tayere Frayd fun Yidish, Mir hobn dem koved un fargenign aykh tzu meldn az der Yanuar-Teves 2004/5764 - "Oystarlie Tog" numer fun "Di Yunge Gvardie" iz shoyn dershinen oyf dem veb zaytl:- http://home.iprimus.com.au/kadimah/gvardie.htm Di redaktzye "Di Yunge Gvardie" 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 10, 2004 From: Ross Bradshaw Subject: Re: Cross-dressing in the Yiddish theatre Warren Hoffman (Yiddish Theatre Review Vol.3 no.1) may be interested in two related articles by Eve Sicular: Gender Rebellion in Yiddish Film: Molly Picon, Drag Artiste and The Celluloid Closet of Yiddish Film. These articles appear in "When Joseph Met Molly: a reader on Yiddish film" edited by Syliva Paskin (Five Leaves, 1999, 0 907 123 92 9) and elsewhere. Ross Bradshaw, Five Leaves Publications, PO Box 81, Nottingham NG5 4ER. 0115 9693597, email fiveleaf01@surfaid.org, www.fiveleaves.co.uk 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 11, 2004 From: Alain Mihaly Subject: Yiddish at the movies [Kevin Cohen (Mendele Vol. 13 No. 9) asks about the film "Ivan and Abraham" aka "Moi Ivan, Toi Abraham"]. kh'hob a mol ongeshribn inem yiddish-belgishn tsaytshrift "Points Critiques" (numer 55, oygust/sept. 1994, brisl) a retsenzye fun ot dem film (mitn titl: "Moi, Toi et Nous"). ikh gib aykh do iber vos iz shaykh dem shprakh-inyen inem film : "Si les Ukrainiens --et une bonne partie des Juifs-- parlent un russe classique des plus anachroniques, il est bien vrai que les acteurs de langue ukrainienne ne courent pas les steppes. Quant au yiddish du film, s'il s'agit bien syntaxiquement de yiddish, il reste eloigne de la musique, des accents et des intonations de la langue et il sonne faux. L'impression domine ici que les acteurs n'ont pas ete diriges : ils n'ont pas travaille leur yiddish comme un corps vivant; ils se contentent dans la plupart des cas de l'enonner et le cantonnent ainsi au rale ingrat d'un alibi. La comparaison s'impose ici avec "Bruxelles-Transit" de Samy Szlingerbaum, un film dont le yiddish trouvait et prenait sa place. Dans le meme registre, la bande-son ignore etrangement toute reference a la musique et aux chants des Juifs de l'Est pour faire la part belle a un Vissotsky deplace et bien trop russe sinon tout simplement trop moderne". s'iz nor rikhtik az eyne fun di aktiorins, di belgishe Helene Lapiower (tsum badoyern geshtorbn mit a por yor tsurik), hot gekent yidish fun der heym; zi zogt nor aroys zeyer veynik af yidish. dos rov redt men rusish inem film say di ukrainer say di yidn. anshl mihaly 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 13, 2004 From: Hugh Denman Subject: False modesty May I once again appeal to all Mendelyaner who are or who intend to become authors of books on Yiddish topics? Be more ambitious! Don't just think in terms of semi-private distribution among a handful of friends and aficionados. Assume that university libraries are going to want to order your book (Mine certainly will. I shall see to that!) and that better bookshops are going to want to stock your book. But, in order to facilitate this wider distribution, please, when posting in Mendele an announcement of a new book, so that librarians and other potential purchasers do not have to write to you separately (and not all of them may be as assiduous as I!) include in your announcement a citation of the relevant bibliographical details in the following format: Author's (or editor's) last name, first name and/or further initials, _title_, place of publication: publisher, year of publication, number of pages [ISBN:], price. n.b. the number of pages is not calculated by doubling the number of sheets of paper, but is the last pagination number actually printed in the book. If the book has more than one pagination series (as is often the case when there is a preface or if the book is bilingual) list the last number in each of the pagination series, e.g.: xliii, 185, 192pp. Hugh Denman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 15, 2004 From: Zachary Baker Subject: New book: The Artists of the Kultur-Lige Kazovsky, Hillel (Gregory). The Artists of the Kultur-Lige Khudozhniki Kul'tur-Ligi. Jerusalem: Gesharim; Moskva: Mosty Kul'tury, 2003. 343 pages, illus. ISBN 5-93273-130-3 For those who are interested in modern Yiddish culture at a crucial juncture in its development - the years immediately following the First World War - this is a most important new book. Its focus is on the Arts Section of the Kultur-Lige, an organization that was founded in Kiev in January 1918 "with the objective of promoting Yiddish culture." Kazovsky, the author of an earlier study, Artists from Vitebsk: Yehuda Pen and His Pupils (Moskva: Imidzh, [ca. 1991]), writes in his introduction, "This book is only an interim 'archaeological' report about the history of the Kultur-Lige and its Arts Section." Nevertheless, he has uncovered a lot of previously undiscovered material (both artworks and documentation) in archives, museums, and private collections in the former Soviet Union, Western Europe, and Israel, and that alone makes this a valuable contribution to the growing literature on Jewish participation in the artistic avant-garde. The focus of Kazovsky's study is the Kultur-Lige in Kiev, even though (as he notes) the organization had important branches in Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Romania, and (especially) Poland. A number of the Kultur-Liga artists whom he discusses are well-known: Marc Chagall, El Lissitzky, Issachar-Ber Ryback, Boris Aronson, Natan Altman, Joseph Tchaikov. Other names are less familiar at first glance -- e.g., Sarah Shor, Mark Epstein, Iosif Elman. But those who have perused Yiddish children's books or examined Yiddish magazines from that period (such as Freyd) will recognize their handiwork. Quite a few of the reproductions come from books and magazines, demonstrating the close collaboration between writers and visual artists associated with the Kultur-Lige. And, as Kazovsky points out, these artists' output was a synthesis of folk art and traditional Jewish symbols, with such modernist approaches as expressionism and cubism. This was the new Jewish art, par excellence. The Artists of the Kultur-Lige includes an extensive introduction, providing background on both the Kultur-Lige and its Arts Section. The book is completely bilingual - English and Russian - and the publishers are to be thanked for that. Editorial and proofreading standards are more consistently applied in the introduction than in the section where most of the illustrations appear. (E.g., David Hofstein [Dovid Hofshteyn] becomes Gofstein [in English] -- even though the book accompanying this caption shows clearly the Yiddish spelling Hofshteyn.) Still, all things considered, this is a very minor drawback. Where to find this book? How to get it? For the moment, only a couple of libraries list it in their catalogues. The hope is that it will be picked up by Judaica booksellers and museum shops. I have also placed an order with a Slavic bookseller in Redwood City, Szwede, who stocks many of the worthy publications issued jointly by Mosty Kul'tury and Gesharim. For the record, Stanford acquired its copy from a bookseller in Munich. Zachary Baker 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 16, 2004 From: Catherine Madsen Subject: NYBC job posting Yiddish Educator/Goldfarb Chair The National Yiddish Book Center is conducting a search for an educator in the field of Yiddish and Jewish studies, who will hold our endowed position of Goldfarb Chair. This important position will be critical in helping the Center bring Yiddish literature and culture to a large and diversified audience. The holder of the Goldfarb Chair will be the Center's primary Yiddish resource and will have a range of responsibilities, including: teaching Yiddish to college students and adults; working with staff to develop Yiddish-based programs and exhibitions for the public; creating and approving materials written in or translated from Yiddish; and directing the summer internship program for college students. The requirements for the position are: fluency in Yiddish; deep knowledge of Yiddish literature and culture; professional experience in educational settings such as colleges, museums, or other cultural organizations; excellent communication and organizational abilities; teaching experience. We seek someone with an advanced degree in Jewish or Yiddish Studies or related fields. Most important, we seek someone with demonstrated commitment to Yiddish culture and a genuine interest in helping a largely non-Yiddish-speaking public appreciate the culture's range and depth. This is a full-time professional position with a competitive salary and excellent benefits; start date is flexible. Please send resume to: Anne Atherley, Goldfarb Search, National Yiddish Book Center, 1021 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002; email aatherley@bikher.org. No phone calls, please. Catherine Madsen 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 17, 2004 From: Warren Hoffman Subject: Looking for two I.B. Singer stories I'm trying to track down in Yiddish the following two stories by I.B. Singer and can only find them in English. "Disguised" in The Death of Methuselah and "Two" in Old Love. Does anyone know where I might find copies of these stories? I've consulted Roberta Saltzman's new bibliography and even talked to her in person, but no leads. The first story was translated by Joseph Singer and the second by Deborah Menashe, if that helps in providing contacts. Thanks, Warren Hoffman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date Jan 18, 2004 From: Sarah Goudge Subject: "Antlofn fun Varshe" During the first three months of 1940, "Antlofn fun Varshe" (Escape from Warsaw) was produced regularly at one of the Yiddish theatres in London's East End. The production was advertised in 'Di Tzait' as being extremely topical. Unfortunately, there was no mention of authorship and even the British Library cannot track it down for me. I am wondering whether anyone knows where I might be able to locate a copy. It would be pertinent to mt study of East End Jewry's responses to the Holocasut during 1938-1946 - as I am also looking at cultural activites which might have some bearing on the topic. Sarah Goudge 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Jan 18, 2004 From: Jack P Freer Subject: Ivre taytsh I am looking for information about Ivre taytsh, particularly as used in Tsene Rene, the Torah commentary for women. I have seen it described as a stylized archaic form of Yiddish. I sometimes have seen it described as a word for word translation from Hebrew into Yiddish (but with no attempt to translate into Yiddish grammatical form). I have also found another description. In "A Bridge of Longing: the lost art of Yiddish storytelling," David Roskies describes Ivre taytsh as a form of Yiddish with more modern (square) typeface and vocalization marks making it more accessible to men. I recently purchased a copy of Tsene Rene from the NYBC. It is written in what appears to be Yiddish, but with liberal use of vowel markings (in a completely redundant fashion, if one is familiar with Yiddish). For example, "geven" has ayins for the vowel sounds but also adds the 3 dot vowel point below the letters (never used in Yiddish). This sounds like the latter definition, but I have seen the former in at least a couple different sources. I would appreciate any information or references anyone can give me about Ivre taytsh. a sheynem dank, Yoyne Freer ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 13.010 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net http://ibiblio.org/yiddish/mendele.html