Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.249 February 27, 1994 1) The English name or Yiddish (Yosel Berman) 2) Funny, you don't look Yiddish. . . (Meyshe Alpert) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Feb 24 16:02:41 1994 From: BERMAN Subject: Re: The English name or Yiddish Though I am not a linguist, I imagine that many of the language names used in English (such as Japanese and French) have historic reasons for being what they are. Whether the English names derived from the ignorance of those making first contact, or other linguistic reasons (why Hungarian, for Magyar?) these names are NOT simply translations into English. The Yiddish language is one which relies extensively on nuance and subtlty. When engaging in a Yiddish conversation, one would never experience any confusion as to whether the word 'Yidish' is being used to mean the language or the word meaning 'Jewish'. English, on the other hand, lacks the context which is inherrent in Yiddish. Thus, it would often be confusing if the word "Jewish" were used for both meanings. Many "Jewish" expressions, or Jewish humour, are of North American origin and not necessarily Yiddish in origin. If I told you a story and then said it was originally a "Jewish" joke, would you know whether it originated in in Yiddish speaking Poland, or from Jackie Mason in the Catskills? Finally, there are other Jewish Languages (Ladino and Hebrew among others). It would not be fair, or accurate, to use the word "Jewish" to describe only one of them. Jewish religion, culture, and tradition encompass far more than the Yiddish language. It is useful to have separate unambiguous words for these two concepts. Yosel Berman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Feb 24 17:04:10 1994 From: meyshke@aol.com Subject: Funny, you don't look Yiddish. . . Re: Ellen Prince: "the name for 'yiddish' in other languages" Getrofn, Ellen, as usual (a mazl af dayn kop)! Like many of us, I also grew up hearing the language called 'Jewish', or, more accurately, 'Dzewis', in its Boston Litvak pronounciation. And of course, very few people 'spoke' it; the majority 'talked' it. 'Yiddish' may indeed smack of avoiding the J-word - there certainly was and is plenty of that going around, as you illustrate. On the other hand, I wonder whether in this case impetus also came from the academy (YIVO, et al), for more positive reasons. Dina Abramowicz points out that in the first issue of "YIVO-bleter" in 1938, the English title refers to the 'Yiddish Scientific Institute' - the original name of the YIVO in the US as well, into the 1960s, I believe. This whole issue is of course larger and older than just the YIVO and its cultural politics, but I think the institution and its associates played a not-insignificant role in setting the scene for the reception of Yiddish in the Americas, especially after the war. Dina, who was on the scene for much of the discussion around the issue in both Europe and the US, feels that Weinreich, et al. mainly wanted to distinguish 'Yiddish' language and culture from the greater category, 'Jewish'. She didn't buy the "avoidance" line, pointing out that 'yid' was a more pejorative term in the English of the day than was 'Jew'. Maybe. Along those lines, we both noted that the YIVO continued to use 'zydowski' ('Jewish') in Polish, rather than inventing something new there. Greater pundits than I will probably have more to say about all this (and, knowing Mendele, I'm sure they will). In this regard, however, I am fond of pointing out that the current use of the term 'klezmer music', to denote a musical genre that is today actually much broader than the instrumental klezmer tradition (strictly defined), probably reflects more than a drop of avoidance of the J-word, or the Y-word, for that matter. Consider a typical folk festival advertisement, which might announce performances of traditional Irish, Quebecois, French, Puerto Rican and Klezmer music. Funny, you don't look Klezmer. In late 20th century America, 'klezmer' is hip, 'Yiddish' or 'Jewish' unfortunately not, in all too many contexts. 'Yiddish' mainly draws an audience of senior citizens, 'klezmer' is increasingly - and happily - the happening thing among ever younger fans. At the risk of tooting my own horn (so to speak - I'm a string player and singer, after all), I must say that in the mid-1970s, back at the dawn of the Klezmer Revival (fanfares here!), I was a stubborn proponent of calling the music we were making 'Yiddish music' or "Jewish music', since the repertoire we were performing drew from numerous other genres including Yiddish folk, theater and art song, Hassidic music, liturgical compositions, etc. I finally gave in around 1987, just when the opportunity arose to do battle with the term 'klez'. . . (a yid hot tsores on a shir). OK. 'Nuff said. Let the wild rumpus start. And as it rages, lom ikh oysdrukn a tifn un greysn dank fun gantsn hartsn di ale, vos ir hot mir azezy sheyn mekabl ponim geven bay mayn arayntretn in Mendele arayn. Gebentsht zolt ir mir ale zayn mit gezunt un glik, nakhes un freyd, mazl, brokhe, parnose un hatslokhe biz hundert un tsvantsik yor a yedn eynem, un dertsu a por libe un sheyne idishe tener, mit kishkes! Meyshe Alpert ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.249 To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files