How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish

This book explores the interplay of Yiddish and American culture, including cuisine, language, popular culture, and resistance. It includes essays, memoirs, songs, letters, poems, recipes, cartoons, conversations, and more from Nobel Prize-winner Isaac Bashevis Singer and other luminaries. Readers will learn about personal stories of assimilation and how Yiddish has become a language of its own.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 528 pages
Publication date: 08 June 2023
Publisher: Restless Books

Is it possible to imagine the American diet without bagels? Or to envision Star Trek without Mr. Spock? Are the creatures in Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are based on Holocaust survivors? And how has Yiddish, a language without a country, influenced Hollywood? These and other intriguing questions are explored in this captivating and comprehensive anthology of the interplay between Yiddish and American culture, edited by award-winning authors and scholars Ilan Stavans and Josh Lambert.

The journey begins with the arrival of Ashkenazi immigrants to New York City's Lower East Side and traces the evolution of Yiddish as it permeates Hollywood, Broadway, literature, politics, and resistance. We delve deep into various aspects of Yiddish culture, including cuisine, language, popular culture, and its presence in other Americas, such as Canada, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia. The book offers a diverse range of genres, including essays, memoirs, songs, letters, poems, recipes, cartoons, conversations, and much more.

Authors featured in this anthology include Nobel Prize-winner Isaac Bashevis Singer and renowned figures such as Grace Paley, Cynthia Ozick, Chaim Grade, Michael Chabon, Abraham Cahan, Sophie Tucker, Blume Lempel, Irving Howe, Art Spiegelman, Alfred Kazin, Harvey Pekar, Ben Katchor, Paula Vogel, and Liana Finck. Readers will be both entertained and moved as they delve into personal stories of assimilation and discover the diverse backgrounds of individuals who have embraced Yiddish as their own. The Yiddish proverb "Der mentsh trakht un got lakht" (Man plans, and God laughs) aptly captures the spontaneity and unpredictability of life's plans.

How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish showcases the vibrant and enduring impact of Yiddish on American culture. It illustrates how both cultures have evolved, influenced, and enriched each other, creating a rich tapestry of language, literature, and heritage. This anthology is a testament to the enduring power of language and the profound ways in which it shapes our understanding of the world.

Dimension: 228 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781632062260