Dear Safranim, This Wednesday, Dec.. 23, don't miss our very special, free public talk by Michael Wex at NYPL!
Yiddish: German to Spite the Germans, a lecture with Michael Wex Wednesday, December 23, 2015, 6 p.m. Mid-Manhattan Library 5th Avenue at 40th St. New York, NY Fully accessible to wheelchairs For all ages A look at how and why Jews living in German-speaking areas turned a thoroughly Christianized language into a vehicle for Jewish ideas and values. Although Yiddish shares most of its vocabulary with German, it was never really “German.” Many innocent-looking Yiddish terms and idioms express profound opposition to the German, i.e., Christian, worldview; we’ll see how the fundamental ironies produced by such opposition contributed to the development of the characteristic Yiddish sense of humor. No knowledge of either Yiddish or German is required. With respect to Yiddish, William Burroughs was wrong: language is not a virus, it's a dybbuk, and as far as Yiddish is concerned, German is Linda Blair. From the moment when Jews in the Middle Ages started speaking "German" to one another, they were speaking German aftselakhis, German to spite the Germans, a German that Germans would not understand, full of words that every German knew that were being used to conceal attitudes and ideas that, when not actively offensive to Christians, could hardly be considered endearing. Yiddish embodies the successful circumcision of every German cultural assumption, including many that might not at first appear to have anything to do with religious practice or belief. This Jewish version of German dispensed with the Christianity (and much of the residual paganism) that informed the “original” language, sometimes disposing of it, at others assigning meanings that simply were not there in the “original” language to German words and phrases. We will be looking at some of these words and phrases, as well as at the sources of their new meanings and the ways in which Yiddish managed to sneak them in. About the presenter: Michael Wex is the author of three books on Yiddish, including the bestseller, Born to Kvetch. He has taught the language at the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan and is a mainstay of the contemporary Yiddish scene. A native-speaker whose Yiddish songs have been recorded by such bands as the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, he has translated material ranging from classical Yiddish literature to testimony for war crimes trials. He has also translated The Threepenny Opera from German into Yiddish. He has also published three novels, the most recent of which, The Frumkiss Family Business, was a Canadian national bestseller. His next book, Rhapsody in Schmaltz, a study of Ashkenazi food that does for Yiddish food what Born to Kvetch did for Yiddish speech, will be published in April 2016 by St. Martin’s Press. Website: michaelwex.com This program has been organized in cooperation with the Yiddish New York Festival and has been made possible by the generosity of The Dorot Jewish Division. For more information, visit: http://on.nypl.org/1Nmawf0 Sincerely, Amanda -- Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel Librarian Dorot Jewish Division, Room 111 The New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Reference Desk: 212-930-0601 Fax: 212-642-0141 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/jewish-division Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schwarzmanbuilding -- Amanda (Miryem-Khaye) Seigel Librarian Dorot Jewish Division, Room 111 The New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Reference Desk: 212-930-0601 Fax: 212-642-0141 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/jewish-division Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schwarzmanbuilding
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected] To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list [email protected] https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
