Yiddish Transformed
Description
As significant economic, social, political, and cultural transformations swept the Jewish population of Tsarist Russia and Congress Poland between 1860 and 1914, the Yiddish language (Zhargon) began to gain recognition as a central part of the Jewish cultural stage. Yiddish Transformed examines the secular reading habits of East-European Jews as the Jewish community began shifting to a modern society. Author Nathan Cohen explores Jewish reading practices alongside the rise of Yiddish by delving into publishing policies of Yiddish books and newspapers, popular literary genres of the time, the development of Jewish public libraries, as well as personal reflections of reading experiences.
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Person
Nathan Cohen is Associate Professor and director of the Center for Yiddish Studies at Bar Ilan University, Israel, and associated editor of Yad Vashem Studies. His research focuses on East European Jewish cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries, Yiddish book history and history of reading, and modern Yiddish literature. He is the author of Books, Writers and Newspapers: The Jewish Cultural Center in Warsaw, 1918-1942 (Magnes Press, 2003), which was published in Hebrew and translated into Polish.
Content
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
The Reader, the Book, and the Library
Reading and Readers in the Russian Empire
Reading and Readers in Congress Poland
Reading and Readers in the Changing Jewish Surroundings
The Library as a Literary Agent in Russia and Poland
The Library as a Cultural Agent in the Jewish Surroundings
Developing Changes
From "Zhargon" to Yiddish
Rising Numbers and Changing Content
Chapter 1. Changing Times, New Activities, Fresh Content
Looking to the Masses
Historical-Demographic and Linguistic Background
First Steps Towards a Different Reading Experience
Conservative Reactions to Contemporary Cultural Changes
Let the Masses Read in Their Language!
A One-Man Enterprise: Avrom Kotik
The Book as Teacher
Popular Science and Public Health
Foreign Language Instruction
Professional Guidance and Ways to Get Rich Quick
Chapter 2. The Fleeting and the Long-lasting: Newspapers and Books
Newspapers and Readers
The Daily Press
Political Newspapers
Publishing and Publishers
Warsaw: Printers, Publishers, and Booksellers until 1900
Y. L. Peretz as a Publisher
Socialist Publishing
Modern Commercial Publishing (after 1900)
Series - Bibliotekn
Impressions of Warsaw
Vilna: Lineage and Prestige
Kiev: A Young and Vibrant Center
Odessa: A Peripheral Metropolis
St. Petersburg: Yiddish in the Capital City
Attempts at Cooperation
The Future of Yiddish Publishing
Chapter 3. New on the Shelf - Crime and Detective Stories
Crime Stories for the Masses
Imported and Translated Detective Stories
Crime Literature in the Eyes of Contemporary Critics
Chapter 4. Discovering a New World¿The Reading Experience in Yiddish Life Stories
Sources of Inspiration
The Encounter with the Book
Genre Preferences
Linguistic Preferences and Preferred Authors
The Reading Experience and the Choice of Yiddish
The Place of Yiddish among Female Readers
Conclusion
Chapter 5. Libraries, Books, and Readers
The Library as an Educational Agent
The Importance and Necessity of a Library
Meeting Places for Scholars in Vilna and Warsaw
Odessa: A Large Library in the Port City
Poltava: A New Southern Library
Kiev: Yiddish on the Rise
Minsk: The Transformation of a Library
Other Libraries
Jewish Readers in General Libraries
What Was Read Outside the Library?
The Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia (OPE)
The Society, Yiddish, and Library Awareness
Public Libraries: Where, How Many, and How?
What Do People Read and How Much? Supply and Demand
Literacy and Yiddish in Other Cultural Institutions
In the Russian Arena: The All-Russian Library Conference and Its Implications for the Jewish Libraries
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
