Children and Yiddish Literature From Early Modernity to Post-Modernity: From Early Modernity to Post-Modernity (Legenda)

Children have occupied a prominent place in Yiddish literature since early modern times, but children s literature as a genre has its beginnings in the early 20th century. Its emergence reflected the desire of Jewish intellectuals to introduce modern forms of education, and promote ideological agendas, both in Eastern Europe and in immigrant communities elsewhere. Before the Second World War, a number of publishing houses and periodicals in Europe and the Americas specialized in stories, novels and poems for various age groups. Prominent authors such as Yankev Glatshteyn, Der Nister, Joseph Opatoshu, Leyb Kvitko, made original contributions to the genre, while artists, such as Marc Chagall, El Lissitzky and Yisakhar Ber Rybak, also took an active part. In the Soviet Union, meanwhile, children s literature provided an opportunity to escape strong ideological pressure. Yiddish children s literature is still being produced today, both for secular and strongly Orthodox communities. This volume is a pioneering collective study not only of children s literature but of the role played by children in literature. " The Spanish Pagan Woman And Ashkenazi Children Reading Yiddish Circa 1700 / Shlomo Berger -- The Sabbath Tale And Jewish Cultural Renewal / Miriam Udel -- Heavenly Father: Portraying The Family Is Hasidic Yiddish Children's Literature / Asya Vaisman Schulman -- The Design Of Books And Lives: Yiddish Children's Book Art By Artists From The Kiev Kultur-lige / Kerstin Hoge -- Illustrating Yiddish Children's Literature: Aesthetics And Utopia In Lissitzky's Graphics For Mani Leib's Yingl Tsingl Khvat / Sabine Holler -- Reading Soviet-yiddish Poetry For Children: Der Nister's Mayselekh In Ferzn 1917-39 / Daniela Mantovan -- An End To Fairy Tales: The 1930s In The Mayselekh Of Der Nister And Leyb Kvitko / Mikhail Krutikov -- The Upside-down World Of Baym Dnyepr: Perek / Harriet Murav -- Jewish Wards Of The Soviet State: Fayvl Sito's These Are Us / Gennady Estraikh -- 'a Language Is Like A Garden': Shloyme Davidman And The Yiddish Communist School Movement In The United States / Jennifer Young -- Soviet Propaganda In Illustrated Yiddish Children's Books: From The Collections Of The Yivo Library, New York / Lyudmila Sholokhova. Edited By Gennady Estraikh, Kerstin Hoge & Mikhail Krutikov. The Collection Of Articles Presented Here .. Grew Out Of The 2013 Mendel Friedman Conference On This Topic At The University Of Oxford .. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Dedication 10 Acknowledgements 11 List of Contributors 12 Introduction: Yiddish Writing for and about Children 13 1 The Spanish Pagan Woman and Ashkenazi Children Reading Yiddish circa 1700 20 2 The Sabbath Tale and Jewish Cultural Renewal 32 3 Heavenly Father: Portraying the Family in Hasidic Yiddish Children’s Literature 52 4 The Design of Books and Lives: Yiddish Children’s Book Art by Artists from the Kiev Kultur-Lige 62 5 Illustrating Yiddish Children’s Literature: Aesthetics and Utopia in Lissitzky’s Graphics for Mani Leib’s Yingl Tsingl Khvat 91 6 Reading Soviet-Yiddish Poetry for Children: Der Nister’s Mayselekh in ferzn 1917–39 108 7 An End to Fairy Tales: The 1930s in the mayselekh of Der Nister and Leyb Kvitko 128 8 The Upside-Down World of Baym Dnyepr: Penek 141 9 Jewish Wards of the Soviet State: Fayvl Sito’s These Are Us 156 10 ‘A Language Is Like a Garden’: Shloyme Davidman and the Yiddish Communist School Movement in the United States 174 11 Soviet Propaganda in Illustrated Yiddish Children’s Books: From the Collections of the YIVO Library, New York 188 Index 205