yiddish literature and film introduction. a disappeared civilization “since childhood i have known...
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Yiddish Literatureand Film
Introduction
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A DISAPPEARED CIVILIZATION
“Since childhood I have known three dead languages,
Ancient Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Yiddish.”
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shosha
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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”
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TERRITORIES WHERE YIDDISH DIALECTS WERE SPOKEN
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Yiddishkeit
YIDDISHKEIT,
“the essence ofJewishness”:
• Food
• Humour
• Cultural practices
• Religious traditions
• Yiddish language (or its traces)
• Music
• Folklore (tales, legends, songs)
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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.