Synopses & Reviews
Empowered by the Soviet state before World War II to create a Jewish national culture, Soviet Jewish activists were interested in building such a culture because they were striving for a national revolution--through the creation of a new culture in which Jews would be able to identify themselves as Jews on new, secular, Soviet terms. This book explores the ways in which Jews functioned as part of, not apart from, the Soviet system, as well as Jewish history.
Review
"...enlightening and...enjoyable." American Historical Review"...an important contribution...moves beyond many of the stereotypically conventional ways historians have portrayed Soviet Jewish intellectuals in the past...well-documented study." Mark L. von Hagen, Columbia University"Shneer's masterful account of Soviet nationalities policy and Yiddish language politics sets the stage for his discussion of how activists like Esther Frumkina, Moshe Litvakov, and Semen Dimanshteyn promoted Yiddish as Soviet policy." Russian Review, Sean Martin, Cleveland, Ohio
Synopsis
Yiddish and the Creation of Soviet Jewish Culture gives voice to the Soviet Jewish activists empowered by the state to create a Soviet Jewish national culture, and explores the ways in which Jews were part of, not apart from, the Soviet system and Jewish history.
Table of Contents
Introduction; 1. Soviet nationalities policies and the making of the Soviet Yiddish Intelligentsia; 2. How Yiddish became the national language of Soviet Jewry; 3. Making Yiddish modern: Yiddish language reform in the Soviet Union; 4. Who owns the means of production?: Soviet Yiddish publishing in the 1920s; 5. Soviet Jewish literature and Yiddish writers groups; 6. Becoming revolution: Izi Kharik, Soviet Yiddish poetry, and creative destruction; Appendix; Bibliography.