Writing in Tongues: Translating Yiddish in the Twentieth Century

by Anita Norich

Overview

Writing in Tongues examines the complexities of translating Yiddish literature at a time when the Yiddish language is in decline. After the Holocaust, Soviet repression, and American assimilation, the survival of traditional Yiddish literature depends on translation, yet a few Yiddish classics have been translated repeatedly while many others have been ignored. Anita Norich traces historical and aesthetic shifts through versions of these canonical texts, and she argues that these works and their translations form an enlightening conversation about Jewish history and identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295804958
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	02/01/2014
Series:	Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Anita Norich is professor of English and Judaic studies at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Translation Theory and Practice: The Yiddish Difference

2. How Tevye Learned to Fiddle

3. Remembering Jews: Translating Yiddish after the Holocaust

4. Returning to and from the Ghetto: Yankev Glatshteyn

5. Concluding Lines and Conclusions

Appendix A / Anna Margolin’s “Maris tfile” in Yiddish and Translations

Appendix B / Twelve Translations of Yankev Glatshteyn’s “A gute nakht, velt”

Notes

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

Hana Wirth—Nesher

Norich tells a compelling, moving, and intriguing story. No one has studied translation of Yiddish works into English so systematically, meticulously, and sensitively.

Barbara Henry

"Writing in Tongues is sophisticated yet wholly accessible, completely engaging, and beautifully written. It makes particularly adept use of witty (and often hilarious) epigraphs, personal stories, and moving reflections on what it means to write in a minority language."

Hana Wirth—Nesher

"Norich tells a compelling, moving, and intriguing story. No one has studied translation of Yiddish works into English so systematically, meticulously, and sensitively."

Hana Wirth-Nesher

Norich tells a compelling, moving, and intriguing story. No one has studied translation of Yiddish works into English so systematically, meticulously, and sensitively.

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent book . . . at no point is the discussion overly technical. First presented as part of the prestigious Stroum Lectures at the University of Washington, the chapter-lectures that make up Writing in Tongues are aimed at a general-but-educated audience. Norich writes clearly and simplifies abstruse ideas."

Forward - Eitan Kensy

"An excellent book . . . at no point is the discussion overly technical. First presented as part of the prestigious Stroum Lectures at the University of Washington, the chapter-lectures that make up Writing in Tongues are aimed at a general-but-educated audience. Norich writes clearly and simplifies abstruse ideas."—Eitan Kensy, Forward

From the Publisher