Lost in Translation, Found in Transliteration : Books, Censorship, and the Evolution of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation of London As a Linguistic Community, 1663–1810

In Lost in Translation, Found in Transliteration, Alex Kerner examines London’s Spanish & Portuguese Jews’ congregation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as a community that delineated its identity not only along ethnic and religious lines, but also along the various languages spoken by its members. By zealously keeping Hebrew and Spanish for prayer and Portuguese for community administration, generations of wardens attempted to keep control over their community, alongside a tough censorial policy on book printing. Clinging to the Iberian languages worked as a bulwark against assimilation, adding language to religion as an additional identity component. As Spanish and Portuguese speaking generations were replaced with younger ones, English permeated daily and community life intensifying assimilationist trends. In Lost in Translation, Found in Transliteration, Alex Kerner examines London's Spanish & Portuguese Jews'congregation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as a community that delineated its identity not only along ethnic and religious lines, but also along the various languages spoken by its members. By zealously keeping Hebrew and Spanish for prayer and Portuguese for community administration, generations of wardens attempted to keep control over their community, alongside a tough censorial policy on book printing. Clinging to the Iberian languages worked as a bulwark against assimilation, adding language to religion as an additional identity component. As Spanish and Portuguese speaking generations were replaced with younger ones, English permeated daily and community life intensifying assimilationist trends. “His focus on books as an indicator of the importance of language in the London community is well presented, and Kerner's clear description of the varying uses of Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew (and later, English) by the Sephardim in London gives a good survey of the changes in the community over the 150 years covered by the book.... Highly recommended.” - Michelle Chesner, Columbia University, in: Association of Jewish Libraries News and Reviews 1.1 (2019)'Alex Kerner's admirable study is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the interrelationships between language and censorship and their maintenance of community identity.'- Barry Taylor, The British Library, London, in: Bulletin of Spanish Studies 96 (2019)'This volume is a significant contribution to the well-researched history of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of London, providing a clear and nuanced in-depth analysis of the reasons for and history of its censorship policy.'- Wendy Filer, King's College London, UK, in: Journal of Jewish Studies 70.2 (2019) Introduction Pages: 1–18 Books and Censorship in Theory: Disciplining a New-Born Community Pages: 19–20 The 1664 Censorship Article: Background and Sources Pages: 21–40 Other Imposed and Self-Imposed Censorships: The Quakers Pages: 41–46 The Evolution of the Censorship Article of the Ascamot Pages: 47–56 Variations on Censorship: The Language-Control Policy of the Congregation Pages: 57–58 Introduction Pages: 59–68 Ritual Pages: 69–85 Administration Pages: 86–91 Print and Publications Pages: 92–96 “King and Country” Pages: 97–104 Books and Censorship in Practice: The “Kosher Imprimatur” in London’s Sha’ar Hashamayim Congregation Pages: 105–106 Introduction Pages: 107–118 1664–1677: Privately Owned, Imported Prayer Books Pages: 119–125 1677–1693: The Beginning of the Congregation’s Library Pages: 126–134 1677–1693: Potential Dangerous Readings: Pamphlets and Conversionist Trends Pages: 135–152 1693–1733: The Era of David Nieto Pages: 153–201 1733–1781: Censorship at its Peak—Moseh Nieto’s Prayer Book Pages: 202–227 1781–1810: An “Expected Good End”? English Displaces Spanish Pages: 228–238 Conclusion: The Sephardic Congregation of London as a Linguistic Community Pages: 239–248 In 'Lost in Translation, Found in Transliteration', Alex Kerner examines London's Spanish & Portuguese Jews, congregation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as a community that delineated its identity not only along ethnic and religious lines, but also along the various languages spoken by its members. By zealously keeping Hebrew and Spanish for prayer and Portuguese for community administration, generations of wardens attempted to keep control over their community, together with a tough censorial policy on book printing. Simultaneously, clinging to the Iberian languages worked as a bulwark against assimilation, adding language to religion as an additional identity component. As Spanish and Portuguese speaking generations were replaced with younger ones, English permeated daily and community life intensifed assimilationist trends In Lost in Translation, Found in Transliteration , Alex Kerner examines communal usage of languages and censorship policies on printed materials, proposing to look at London's Spanish and Portuguese Jews' congregation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as a linguistic community.