Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.090 November 28, 1998 1) Forverts -- afn veb! (Sholem Berger and Evan Stein) 2) Elektronishe verterbikher (Sholem Berger) 3) translation of Yiddish poetry (Barnett Zumoff) 4) Looking at Translations (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 5) Cynthia Ozick on translating Yiddish (Bob Hoberman) 6) Soviet Yiddish (abraham brumberg) 7) A new approach to keeping Yiddish alive (Al Grand) 8) "dona-dona" (Mordkhe Schaechter) 9) Shreib in Yiddish! (sic!) (Hugh Denman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 00:42:07 -0500 (EST) From: "Sholem Berger" Subject: Forverts --- afn veb! Der Forverts hot shoyn an emesdik vebzaytl: http://www.forward.com/yiddish Dort vet ir gefinen: *toykhn fun hayntikn numer *oystsugn fun artiklen *informatsye vegn abonirn *un a breytn opklayb fun veb-farbindungen. Mit der tsayt vet oykh zayn: *gezelshaftlekhe nayes *arkhivn fun ale vebnumern *nayes-bilder *un nokh. Kumt tsu gast, un lozt visn ayere gute-fraynd! Sholem Berger un Evan Stein Vebmaysters, Forverts The Yiddish Forward has a new Web site which can be found at http://www.forward.com/yiddish There you'll find the table of contents of this week's printed issue, exceprts of articles, information about subscribing, and a wide array of links. In the future you'll also see pictures from the week's news, an archive of all Web issues, and news of Jewish events nationwide. Please drop by! Sholem Berger and Evan Stein Webmasters, Forverts 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 00:14:10 -0500 (EST) From: "Sholem Berger" Subject: Elektronishe verterbikher Ikh hob letstns bakumen a briv fun a yid a VP bay a software-firme, vos vil voluntirn der firmes resursn af adurkhtsufirn an elektronish verterbukh af yidish. Ikh veys az s'zaynen do gevise politishe raybungen af der teme, nor mikh art es nisht: kh'vil nor visn ver vil epes mamoshesdiks oyfton af dem gebit. Ver s'iz farinteresirt, farbindt zikh mit mir. A dank. Sholem Berger [Moderator's note: Early editions of Harkavy's dictionaries (before 1924) are in public domain and would make good candidates for digitizing. "Good" 1928 edition might still be protected, but even if it is, the copyright will expire in 4 years, and it should be easy to negotiate with the owners for permission. -i.v.] 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 08:02:30 -0500 (EST) From: Barnett Zumoff MD Subject: translation of Yiddish poetry I find Margie Schonhaut Hirshan's characterization of my approach to poetry blamed on my being a physician): a. Ludicrous b. Inaccurate c. Insulting The implication that I sacrifice all other qualities of a poem to accurate meaning is simply not true. Many people, poets and others, have written me and also publically stated that my translations are usually very good and occasionally superb. Interestingly, those people include Margie herself, who has written me privately, complimenting me on my translations. If we're going to have a civilized discussion, let's not get into ad hominem insults. Barnett Zumoff 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 13:53:25 -0500 (EST) From: SHirshan@aol.com Subject: Looking at Translations Rokhl Korn (1898-1982), my favorite poetess (a Galitsianer too!) sang of her most intimate emotions in a style so open, natural and lyrical that we are drawn into each of her memories with her. Her honesty in revelation; her use of nature for metaphors; and her intense sensitivities match her with Edna St. Vincent Millay in my mind. Let's look at one of her love poems and two translations that adequately reveal its meaning, but perhaps some of you will comment on which translation captures more precisely the poetic aspects of her words. kh'shtey in der mitogtsayt fun dayn lebn, a zang, a geboygene fun fulkeyt in mitn fun feld, vos hot shoyn oysgeton dos grine yuni-hemdl un vakst arayn in gildner zikherkeyt fun kumemdike teg. s'shpilt di luft mit lilaglekelekh oyf vayte lonkes, der zumer shmekt mit biter-reyekh fun vildn mon, mit farendiker, heyser erd un mit mayne hor. un ven se flekht zikh tsu di blonde tsep der tog, un der ovnt klaybt di perl fun der rose, falt mayn broyner layb tsu dayne fis, vi di zang, vos brekht zikh farn shniter. 1 I stand in the noon of your life, A corn-stalk bent down by ripe fulness in the midst of the field That has already taken off its green June-jacket, And grows in the golden security of coming days. The air plays a tune on the blue-bells all along the fields, The summer smells with the bitter smell of wild poppies~ Of steaming hot earth, And of your hair. And when day braids her flaxen plaits, And evening gathers the pearls on the trees, My brown body falls at your feet Like a corn-stalk bending before the reaper. translated by Joseph Leftwich 2 I stand in the midday... I stand in the midday of your life, a stalk bent in fullness, no longer wearing the green of June, growing in golden certainty of days to come. The wind stirs lilac bells in far-off meadows. Summer has the bitter scent of wild poppies, of steamy earth, and of my hair. And when day puts up her blond hair in braids and evening gathers pearls of dew, my brown body falls at your feet, a stalk breaking before the harvester. translated by Seymour Levitan Marjorie Schonhaut HIrshan 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 13:01:06 -0500 (EST) From: "R. Hoberman" Subject: Cynthia Ozick on translating Yiddish Cynthia Ozick wrote a delighfully perverse little essay on the difficulties of translating Yiddish poetry: "Prayer Leader", PROOFTEXTS 3 (1983): 1-8. It focuses on the first line (and the title) of a poem by Dovid Einhorn: "Geshtorbn der letster bal-tfile". After reading that no one could say that there is ever a perfect way to translate. Bob Hoberman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 13:14:20 -0500 (EST) From: abraham brumberg <102142.2545@compuserve.com> Subject: Soviet Yiddish I am of course delighted that my review of the Weinberg book gave rise to a consideration of soviet yiddish and yiddish literature. Lest I be misunderstood, I happen to be a great admirer of Soviet Yiddish poetry, which for all the ideological kowtowing and hypocritical cant still strikes me as linguistically rich, prosodically inventive, its slavicisms and occasional neologisms combining to raise it to a level often far more exciting than much of the poetry produced by the "yunge" or the "inzikhistn" in the United States. (They are more to be compared to Yung Vilne than the Yunge), I still go back occasionally to the selections in A SHPIGL OYF A SHTEYN, a marvelous book, with its wonderful poems by Kushnirov, Izi Kharik, and others. The tragedy of these gfifted writers (and that includes Dovid Bergelson and other prose-writers, too), of course, was to be hounded and villified by the appointed guardians of proletarian literature and then socialist realism, with results that you are well aware of.. I also agree with Bruin that Soviet Yiddish, during its tragically brief span, succeeded in incorporating very good slavisms and revive words which in other countries had withered on the vine. There was nothing wrong with the decision to spell Hebrew words phonetically -- it was a decision taken by the CYSHO schools, too, in the l930s. What was ridiculous, of course, was the spelling of nun and mem etc. at the ed of words as if sof nun etc. had never existed--a species of ideological dafkizmus, typical of the corrosive inanities of the yevsektsia and their literary "specialists." Incidentally, a slightly revised Yiddish version of my TLS essay appears in the forthcoming issue of UNDZER TSAYT, the Bund journal. abe brumberg 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 09:28:16 -0500 (EST) From: Savoyid@aol.com Subject: A new approach to keeping Yiddish alive To enter into the ongoing discussion regarding the viability of Yiddish, I should like to say that years ago I attempted to organize a movement to work towards the effort of keeping Yiddish alive. I tentatively named this entity The Society for the Preservation and Revitalization of Yiddish (SPRY). But I eventually realized the futility of trying to convince skeptics of the value of preserving Yiddish and the campaign crumbled. Happily, I am now engaged in another venture which is going a long way towards fulfilling the goal of reinvigorating an interest in Yiddish. I am translating the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan into Yiddish. In doing these translations I adhere faithfully to Gilbert's dazzling rhymes while striving to preserve unblemished Yiddish. I always aim to maintain a perfect match of verbal to musical cadence so that the lyric conforms to the accentuation and rhythm of each musical phrase. These works have been successful in bringing a renewed sense of the charm of Yiddish to U.S., Canadian and English audiences via fully staged productions. I was particularly interested in what the reaction of Yiddish G&S performances would be in England, the birthplace of Gilbert & Sullivan. To my delight, two summers ago we played in London and scores of people, from both the Jewish and non-Jewish community, had to be turned away at four sold out performances at the Rudolph Steiner Theatre in Regent Park. Any Mendelyaner who would like to find out what this is all about might wish to learn that a new spin on THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE with Yiddish lyrics (in simultaneous English translation), featuring Israeli cantor Dudu Fisher, star of Broadway's 'Les Miserables' will take place from April 10th to May 2, 1999 at the Jewish Repertory Theatre's PLAYHOUSE 91, 316 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128. Eleanor Reissa and Zalmen Mlotek, the director/musical director team of such hits as 'Those Were the Days', will be at the helm of this new approach to Gilbert & Sullivan. For a brochure listing the schedule of performances or for additional information, please call the Playhouse 91 boxoffice at (212) 831-2000 or (212) 831-2001. Al Grand 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 17:46:09 -0500 (EST) From: MSchaecht@aol.com Subject: "dona-dona" To Tsuguya Sasaki: Avade zent ir gerekht. Dona-dona hot nisht keyn shum shaykhes mit Adonoy. A naive folk-etimologye. Aldes guts, M. Schaechter 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 11:41:57 -0500 (EST) From: Hugh Denman Subject: Shreib in Yiddish! (sic!) Since khaver Kurtzman has raised the topic [8.087:9], I would like to propose a set of ground-rules almost diametrically opposed to his: 1. Write in either Yiddish or English, but never both. [Excellent as _Mendele_ certainly is in many respects, it cannot be denied that it does suffer from a certain diffuseness and bilingual contributions just increase the amount of rapid scrolling called for. After all, most readers of _Mendele_ may be assumed to read both languages with almost equal facility. Someone will perhaps object that allowing monolingual English is unfair to Mendelyaner in Russia, Japan, France etc., but I venture to speculate that they too read English as readily as Yiddish.] 2. Write in whichever language you write better. [There is no virtue in filling _Mendele_ with Yiddish so agrammatical and unidiomatic that it makes the reader wince!] 3. If you write in Yiddish, write consistently either in klal-yidish or in your native dialect. 4. Whether you write Yiddish in its standard version or in one of its regional varieties, use the accurate, scientific YIVO-transcription (supplemented in the case of those dialects in which vowel-length distinctions play a signicant role by the conventional vowel-length symbol [:], thus 'ma:n haym' = 'mayn heym'). [Surely it is not too much to ask that people with a serious interest in Yiddish should eschew transcriptions that, in as far as they possess any consistency at all, rest on the implicit assumption that Yiddish is just a kind of German.] Hugh Denman London, England ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.090 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html