A Birdseye View of the Development of Yiddish Literature and Culture

Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series See all lectures » Admission: $10 YIVO members & students: $5 Free for Uriel Weinreich Summer Program students. Watch the video

Eugene Orenstein | Delivered in Yiddish.

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Beginning with the first complete Yiddish sentence found in the Worms Mahͅzor (1272), this lecture will discuss the chief features of Old Yiddish literature (14th-16th century), and the role of women in its creation. The impact of the migration of Ashkenazim to Eastern Europe will be highlighted. Modern Yiddish literature was born in the late 18th and early 19th century in Eastern Europe as a result of the struggle between the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and the Hasidic movement. The role of the three classic writers, Mendele Moykher Sforim, Y. L. Peretz and Sholem Aleichem and the rise of modernism will be discussed. This talk highlights the creation of cultural institutions such as the Yiddish press and the Yiddish theater and will analyse the role of the Jewish revolutionary movement, Zionism and Diaspora nationalism in the creation of modern Yiddish culture.