The Meaning of Yiddish (Contraversions: Jews and Other Differences)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.37 (538 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0804735751 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 236 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-10-16 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Insight into Yiddish language and culture Midwest Book Review In The Meaning Of Yiddish, Benjamin Harshav (Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at Yale University) has written an impressive work of scholar erudition and insight into the major aspects of the Yiddish language and culture. Professor Harshav reveals where Yiddsh came from and what it has to offer contemporary Jewish culture, even as it is starting to die out with the passing of the generations of ghettoized Eastern Europe Jewry. The Meaning Of Yiddish is an outstanding recommendation for any personal, Temple, or academic Yiddish studies collection.. Ilya said The structure of Yiddish. Vocabulary of the English language consists of several layers, which are not genre-neutral. Stories about Merrie Olde England, such as the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, are heavily Germanic; more formal English writing, such as the United States Declaration of Independence, is heavily Old French; as for modern French borrowings, I am reminded of the Internet forum tagline, "Pretentious? Moi?". It was similar with Yiddish: the Germanic, Hebrew-Aramaic and Slavic layers each had their own connotations and could be combined to give expressive richness to a text. Harshav illustrates this with both 19th centur
I recommend it enthusiastically."—Irving Howe,Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York"The Meaning of Yiddish is the most important contribution to the study of Yiddish language and literature in recent times."—Chana Kronfeld,University of California, Berkeley"The Meaning of Yiddish is explicitly intended for 'readers who bring to it no previous knowledge, only curiosity.' 'My central question,' Harshav writes in the preface, 'is: Yiddish: what was it? What kind of world was it? How can we read the intersections of meaning its texts seem to provide? How did it lead in and out of Jewish history, moving between the internal Jewish world and the cultures of Christian Europe and America?' I know of no other single book in any language which could respond to these questions by conveying to the uninitiated such a richly textured profile of the nature and dynamics of both the Yiddish language and its literature. It is a remarkable feat of high popularization, written with great flair and without a hint of pedantry, its examples always to the point and often memorable in themselves. The book should be read by all who are interested in language, in literature, and in the modern Jewish experience."—Times Literary Supplement. With a rare combination of erudition and insight, the author investigates the major aspects of Yiddish language and culture, showing where Yiddish came from and what it has
"I know of no single book in any language which conveys such a richly textured profile of the nature and dynamics of both the Yiddish language and its literature. It is a remarkable feat of high popularization, written with great flair and without a hint of pedantry. The book should be read by all who are interested in language."—Times Literary Supplement