Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.007 May 19, 1993 1) Transcription and transliteration (Meylekh Weininger) 2) Yiddish Lullabies (Len Duhl) 3) Transcription (Arn Abramson) 4) Avraham Sutzkever evening (Yohanan Weininger) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue May 18 21:49:36 1993 From: Meylekh Viswanath (viswanath@draco.rutgers.edu) Subject: Transcription and transliteration koydem kol, I want to clarify that I was asking for reactions, not _arguing_/asserting that 'yidish' should be spelt 'yiddish.' After reading the various responses, I realize that there are two different questions. First, in transliteration of a completely yiddish text, should concessions to popular transliteration be made (as e.g. mazel for mazl), and the answer, I think, is no. Second, in transliteration of yiddish words/phrases in an otherwise English sentence, should popular transliterations be preferred for certain words? This was the context of my original question, and ellen suggests that the answer to this is yes. Thus, we all write 'yidish' as 'yiddish' in an english sentence. Perhaps the background argument there is the one that ellen gave, i.e. for such popular words, what we have is no longer a yiddish word, but rather a borrowing into english, and as such, we should not be limited by yiddish (YIVO) transliteration rules. The only question that is left is whether this 'rule' of using the english spelling (e.g. 'yiddish' or 'mazel') in an english sentence would apply even in a phrase that consisted of one word that could be considered a 'borrowing' and another not (the case in point being 'yid(d)ish vokh'). Although Seymour clearly comes out in favor of 'yidish vokh,' I could see it going either way. Meylekh. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 18 22:32:46 1993 From HOMER@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU Subject: Yiddish lullabies I am doing research on Yiddish lullabies, with emphasis on those of the Holocaust. Need sources for songs, papers, theses, interested people, and other infor mation. Orientation is psychological, but interested in all aspects of history , personal recollections etc. Need all help we (my wife Lisa is prime researcher on this) can get. Thanks. Len Duhl 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue May 18 22:46:49 1993 From: "Arthur S. Abramson" Subject: Transcription In my message of a little while ago [see Vol 3.006], I failed to answer part of Meylekh's question. My discussion of transcription vs. transliteration, which made up the bulk of my message, thus possibly obscuring the final punch, was prompted by his use of the term "transliteration," which is not what the Yivo orthography is. Arn 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed May 19 07:25:54 1993 From: Yohanan Weininger Subject: Avraham Sutzkever evening, Heb.Univ, 18.May Of the three or four reasons for the Sutzkever evening, these were named: a- the poet's "gvura" 80th birthday; b- his new book, the univ's publication of Sutzkever's latest book, a collection of articles and essays (see below); c- the poet's gift of his archive to the library, the Jewish National and University Library d- recalling Dov Sadan's good name Among other reasons, I might add: e- display and sale of other Yiddish books by the Magnes Press f- celebration of Univ's Yiddish Department and the National Library and of Yiddish and Jerusalem... g- the aliyah of our Tel Aviv poet At the dais sat the speakers: 1. Prof. Avraham Novershtern, chairman of the Yiddish Dept. 2. Avraham Karfanovitz, a Vilna childhood friend 3. Yossl Birstein, the writer and chief Yiddish archivist at the JNUL Library 4. Prof. Dan Miron, (introduced as "the realization of Sadan's dream" as the first native Israeli Yiddish lit. researcher; and who spoke brilliantly though in Hebrew); 5. Prof. Chone Shmeruk, former chair of Dept. 6. Avraham Sutzkever A reception began at 5:00; the talks began at 6:00; and the reading ended at 8:45. Yiddish academia and artists as well as students and fans made up the standing-room only audience. (From as far away as Haifa came Leonard Prager, a veteran mendele newsman.) The two new Yiddish books published by the Hebrew Univ. Dept of Yiddish and the Magnes Press: --(notes from their publisher's brochure, copying from the English side of brochure; with minimal transcription from the more detailed Yiddish side. (hefting these, their new print smell and the wift of Hebrew Book Week, upon us soon, early June, (besides these two, on the desk, for sale, were about ten other Yiddish books by the Univ. Dept., for example, from 1983, the Catalog of the Library's Bio-Bibliographic Exhibition on Sutzkever's 70th birthday... ten years ago! (a copy of the list on the brochure, the Dept's Yiddish publications list, perhaps another day, but their address on order form is: The Magnes Press POB 7695 Jerusalem 91076, ISRAEL FAX: 972-2-633370), -- now as to the two new Yiddish books, they are: 1. Chava Turniansky, ed., Di Yiddishe literatur in neintzen yarhundert...> Selection and foreword by Chone Shmeruk. (HU-Magnes, 1993), 595 pp. ISBN 965-223-828-7, $29. >"This comprehensive collection brings together the most important articles by Soviet Jewish critics on 19th century Yiddish literature. Despite the ideological constraints, thse works constitute part of the core of Yiddish literary criticism and research and excel in their analysis of the linguistic, cultural and literary background of the period." 2. Abraham Sutzkever, . Edited by Avraham Noversthern. (HU-Yiddish Dept.-Magnes, 1993), 301 p., $15. >"This collection of articles and essays by Abraham Sutzkever provides a view into his rich and dramatic life. It includes pieces on his literary beginnings in the vibrant Jewish cultural center in Vilna before the war, memories of his years in the ghetto and the forests, impressions of Soviet Jewish life after his liberation and recollections of his meetings and life-long friendships with Yiddish writers and Jewish artists, like Sh. Mikhoels, I. Ehrenburg, and Marc Chagall." I won't attempt to review the speakers, what they said and how each kissed the poet. Thanks to our Yiddish radio journalists (Anka Shamir and Mikhael Ben-Avraham) and their tape technician, perhaps some of what was said and what Sutzkever read can be heard on radio (for you, abroad by short-wave)... (and the Kol Yisrael Yiddish shortwave schedule, for another time). -Yohanan Weininger ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.007