Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 15.027
September 15, 2005

1) Majer Bogdanski (Jennifer Dowling)
2) Majer Bigdanski (Zachary Baker)
3) The state of Yiddish (Yankev Berger)
4) The state of Yiddish (Hy Wolfe)
5) How long does it take to be Yiddish-literate? (Lucas Bruyn)
6) I don't understand some Mendelyaner (Alan Astro)
7) Yiddish micrographic portraits (Diane M. Rabson)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 13, 2005
Subject: Re: Majer Bogdanski

Regarding Arieh's question, Majer Bogdanski (z"l)  has indeed left us.
The Guardian published an obituary, which can be found at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/obituary/0,12723,1567844,00.html

Jennifer Dowling

[Similar posts received from Leonard Prager and Stephen Jones.]

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 15, 2005
Subject: Majer Bogdanski

In case this information has not already been posted, there is an obituary
for Majer Bogdanski (composer, folksinger, tailor, Bundist, klal-tuer) in
the September 9, 2005 issue of the Forverts.  He died in London on
September 4th, at the age of 93.

Zachary Baker

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 13, 2005
Subject: Re: The state of Yiddish

In his commentary [Mendele 15.026], Lucas Bruyn makes some valid points,
but implicitly identified the "Catch 22" in the current plight.

To stimulate the writing of contemporary Yiddish, it is necessary to have a
cultural matrix within which the language itself thrives as the medium of
daily discourse. This is a pre-requisite to giving someone with writing
talent the basis on which to articulate whatever it is that is on that
person's mind.

That cultural matrix no longer exists, nor can it be re-created.

Therein lies the dilemma in trying to realize khaver Bruyn's cogent
suggestion.

Yankev Berger

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 14, 2005
Subject: Re: the state of Yiddish

Recent postings asks to see some hard evidence that Yiddish is no longer in
decline; however, I should like to provide evidence to counter such claims.
Having worked the past five years as the executive director of "CYCO" The
Central Yiddish Culture Organization & Publishing House, established in
1937, I can enthusiastically report that gross sales of Yiddish books
doubled in each of my first 3 years and the fourth and fifth year showed a
20% and a 25% gross sale increase respectively.

We pay more to print an individual book and so we are able to keep lower
inventories on hand. We have expanded in some instances into print on
demand, lower inventories are very good for higher profit margins. Being
able to print as few as 25 copies of an individual title keeps us a Lean
mean Yiddish printing machine!

CYCO has built a customer base the old fashioned way, one Yiddish book
buyer at a time. CYCO's customers in particular and Yiddish book buyers in
general continue to faithfully support Yiddish book publishers and stores.
They are prepared in most cases, to pay whatever the price maybe, within
reason, in order to assure the continuity of the published Yiddish word.

Further, our institutional customer base of libraries, universities and
antiquarian dealers have maintained a constant positive presence in CYCO's
Yiddish Book Sales!

CYCO books has been around for 68 years and hopefully will continue to be
there for another 68 years.

Hy Wolfe

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 14, 2005
Subject: Re: How long does it take to be Yiddish-literate?

Morrie Feller, in Vol.15026, asks an impossible question: How long does it
take to be Yiddish-literate? More specific: What would be the minimum
amount of study time required for an average student to learn enough
Yiddish to be able to read Yiddish literature?

He partly answers the question himself saying: Of course, this is a very
subjective thing which depends to a large extent on the motivation of the
learner.

Motivation is the key to any learning process, but the motivation of a
student needs to be supported and strengthened by the teaching process.
The figure of the teacher can inspire even those who are not very
motivated on the outset. Good teaching materials can inspire both the
teacher and his students.

Unfortunately, there are no modern study or teaching materials
available for Yiddish. This remark might upset some readers, but anyone
who is familiar with modern ESL (English as a second language)
materials and methods will agree that Yiddish never left the 19th
century.

Many other factors play a role. Previous learning of other languages is
a great advantage. A second or third foreign language is learned much
faster than the first. A student who happens to know German (or Dutch)
and Hebrew could start reading Yiddish from day one, a student who just
knows English and has no clue to general grammar is at a disadvantage.

A student who wants to become proficient at all four skills, reading,
writing, speaking and listening will need more time than someone who is
satisfied with only passive knowledge enabling him to read with the
help of dictionaries.

Morrie Feller says: I have suggested that perhaps one- two hundred hours
might be enough to get a foothold which would allow reading some simple
literature, and then, with further practice, one could proceed to more
advanced Yiddish pieces.

I agree, provided the motivated student has an inspired teacher who
provides the student with attractive reading materials that interest
the student. The reading material should be real from the start, not
graded stuff produced for students.

In learning languages one of the big problems is to make the jump from one
level to the next, especially going from intermediate to advanced. Even
students who made rapid progress from beginner to intermediate might get
stuck at the intermediate level, not managing to take the jump into the
deep of the real language. Guidance by a capable teacher is of the utmost
importance.

An additional problem with Yiddish is the sad circumstance that we have not
much literature less than over half a century old. Language tends to age
quickly, in style, word choice, subject matter. The gap between Yiddish
literature and modern life is as huge.

Some suggestions:

1. The teaching of Yiddish should be modernized. Teachers and textbook
writers should take advantage of the progress made in the field of ESL
teaching. Granted, much more money is spent on developing methods and
materials for the teaching of English world wide than could be spent on
a minority language like Yiddish, but the teaching of Yiddish would
benefit from getting out of its isolation.

2. The production of modern Yiddish literature in a modern form of
Yiddish should be stimulated. Modern Yiddish should be allowed to have
at least 15% of Anglicisms and English loan words, reflecting the
natural development and growth of the language. The translation of
contemporary literature into Yiddish should be stimulated. Why not a
contest to get the best translation of the lyrics of Bob Dylan, for
example.

3. An attempt should be made to convince the remaining Yiddish
mameloshn speakers that their conservative attitude towards the
language is not helpful stimulating young learners.

With my sincere apologies to those Mendelyaner who I might have
offended with my remarks.

Lucas Bruyn

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 14, 2005
Subject: I don't understand some Mendelyaner

Reading issue 15.026, I am perplexed and saddened. Someone complains about
not liking Sholem-Aleichem and Isaac Bashevis Singer (I'm using accepted
spellings, obviously, not YIVO), and wants more modern literature. Sorry,
S-A and IBS are some of the very best we have; yes, there are historical
reasons why Yiddish is not producing literature the way it used to...
Another person wants to know how long it takes to learn enough Yiddish to
read literature. The answer is: however long it takes, probably an entire
lifetime. Can you read everything in English (or whatever your native
language is) without looking words up? Reading literature properly is work;
reading a foreign language is work; reading one's own language is work. Or
to put it less in terms of the Protestant work ethic... it requires
study... from studio, Latin, for zeal. And study for a Yiddishist is
pleasure... Isn't that kind of Jewish, by the way? It's too bad people
can't take Yiddish on its own terms... It's also funny that someone would
say that Yiddish is easier than Russian, or Hebrew, or whatever. First of
all, the notion that some languages are intrinsically easier is an
absurdity. It's not even clear that someone who aleready knows a Germanic
language has an advantage, because of "false friends" and the fact that
Yiddish opens onto a horizon--talmudic culture, derekh hashas--that is
radically foreign to most speakers of Germanic languages. To read Yiddish
properly one has to delve a lot into Hebrew and Aramaic; and I know my own
lack of a Slavic tongue is a major problem that often requires seeking out
help. Re: easy languages: English is reputed to be easy, but as any English
speaker knows from listening to a Russian talking "turistn-english" to a
Korean in a South American airport, what they're speaking ain't really
English... Or it's a certain register of English that is very limited...
People seem to want a quick fix in Yiddish the way everyone wants a quick
fix in everything nowadays. Precisely part of the fun, the attraction,
the importance of Yiddish for Jews coming from more-or-less de-Yiddishized
environments is seeing how familiar and surprising it is at the same time;
how close and how far we are from the world of Yiddish; wondering when we
speak Yiddish if indeed we could be understood by our true interlocutors:
the generations before us; wondering if we are reparing in any sense the
massive (but not entire) loss of Yiddish or simply deluding ourselves.
Yiddish poses intellectual, existential, practical dilemmas--ober gor dos
nemen mir on behave--and that ain't misbehavin'...

Alan Astro

7)----------------------------------------------------
Date: September 15, 2005
Subject: Re: Yiddish micrographic portraits

In the book, "The Jewish Heritage Album:  The Jewish Artistic Heritage
Album by Semyon An-sky" [Kantsedikas and Serheyeva, Moscow, 2001], there is
a micrographic portrait of An-sky on page 62.

Diane M. Rabson

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End of Mendele Vol. 15.027


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