NaUKMA Department of History and MA in Jewish Studies Program, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies invite to a public lecture by David Fishman "When did Modern Yiddish Culture Arise?".
In the 19th century, those Jews living in the Russian Empire who became enlightened and secular, read modern literature in either Hebrew or Russian, or both. Modernized Jews disparaged Yiddish as a garbled, deformed “Jargon”, and no one imagined that there could be such a thing as a modern Yiddish culture. This lecture will explore how and why such a culture came into being in the last quarter of the 19th century. It will focus on four areas: Yiddish theatre, press, political pamphlets, and the public recognition of Yiddish literature.
David E. Fishman is Professor of Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He also serves as director of Project Judaica, JTS’s program based at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Russian State University for the Humanities. Prof. Fishman is the author of numerous books and articles on the history and culture of East European Jewry. His recent book, “The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis” (2017). Previous books include “The Rise of Modern Yiddish Culture” (2005) and “Russia’s First Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov” (1996).
The public lecture will take place on
Tuesday
May 14, 2019
18:00
All guests are requested to be seated by 18:00.
Venue: Office of the NaUKMA Jewish Studies programs (Kyiv, Voloska Street 8/5, building 5, basement).
