YIVO and the making of modern Jewish culture : scholarship for the Yiddish nation / Cecile Esther Kuznitz, Bard College.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kuznitz, Cecile Esther, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research--History.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Jews--Lithuania--Vilnius--Intellectual life.

Jews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 307 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

YIVO & the Making of Modern Jewish Culture

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is the first history of YIVO, the original center for Yiddish scholarship. Founded by a group of Eastern European intellectuals after World War I, YIVO became both the apex of secular Yiddish culture and the premier institution of Diaspora Nationalism, which fought for Jewish rights throughout the world at a time of rising anti-Semitism. From its headquarters in Vilna, Lithuania, YIVO tried to balance scholarly objectivity with its commitment to the Jewish masses. Using newly recovered documents that were believed destroyed by Hitler and Stalin, Cecile Esther Kuznitz tells for the first time the compelling story of how these scholars built a world-renowned institution despite dire poverty and anti-Semitism. She raises new questions about the relationship between Jewish cultural and political work and analyzes how nationalism arises outside of state power.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Language and Nation

Folk and Elite

Past and Present

Objectivity and Engagement

Diaspora and State

Sources and Organization

1. "Language Raised to the Level of a Political Factor": Yiddish Scholarship before YIVO

Introduction: Setting the Stage

Precursors: Collection, Publishing, and Teaching

World War I and Its Aftermath

Wandering Scholars

Nokhem Shtif and the Dilemmas of Yiddish Scholarship

Conclusion

2. "The Idea of the Institute Is Already Ripe": The Founding and First Stages of YIVO, 1924

1925

Introduction: Rising Interest in a Yiddish Institute

The Initial Plan and Reactions

The Mission of the Institute

The Start of Scholarly Work

3. "From the Folk, For the Folk, With the Folk": Academic Work, 1925

1932

Introduction: To Serve the Folk

Dos zamlen

Balancing Past and Present

Scholarship for the People

The Dilemmas of Political Engagement

Conclusion.

4. "The Capital of Yiddishland": The Geography of Jewish Culture, 1925

1933

Introduction: The Mystique of Vilna

Yiddish Scholarship between East and West

The Geography of Funding

YIVO at a Watershed

"The Temple of Yiddish Scholarship"

5. "To Forge Intellectual Weapons for Our People!": Scholarship in Times of Crisis, 1931

1939

Introduction: "Jewish Reality Has Changed"

Recovering Finances and the World Convention

New Directions in Scholarship

Engaging the Jewish Public

Publications and Language Planning

Scholarship in Times of Crisis

Epilogue: From Vilna to New York

World War II and Its Aftermath

YIVO in the United States

The Reality of Interwar Yiddish Culture Versus the YIVO Myth

Academic Achievements and Symbolic Significance

The Economy of Yiddish Culture.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-69864-8

1-139-86164-6

1-139-89424-2

1-139-86070-4

1-139-01360-2

1-139-86284-7

1-139-86856-X

1-139-87069-6

1-139-86498-X