Beyond the Mother Tongue

Learning the Meaning of Yiddish in America

Bibliographic Data

ID2744762
AuthorsJeffrey Shandler (corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume6
Issue3
Pages97-123
Publication date2000-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJewish Social Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-6704 • E-ISSN: 1527-2028
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jss.2000.0012
OpenAlexW4239233520
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited6

Discussions of modern Yiddish culture often come to an abrupt end in 1939, 1945, or 1948, with any later phenomena characterized as vestigial. There are obvious and compelling reasons for the conceptualization of modern Yiddish culture as having, in essence, terminated in mid-century. Nevertheless, Yiddish has a significant presence in Jewish life after World War II, Stalin's liquidation of Soviet Yiddish culture, and the establishment of the State of Israel, albeit a presence much different from that of the prewar, pre-state era. Although there has been a general decline in its use as a vernacular, especially outside of Ashkenazic ultra-Orthodox communities, Yiddish continues to serve as an important cultural resource: a subject of study, an inspiration for performers, a literature increasingly accessible through translation, and a glossary sprinkled through the speech of Jews and non-Jews. [End Page 97

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Epistemology · First language · Glossary · Jewish culture · Judaism · Linguistics · Literature · Meaning (existential · Sociology · State (computer science · Tongue · Vernacular · Yiddish · Classics · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Jewish Identity and Society · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Philosophy

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