Socialist Yiddishlands

Miriam Schulz, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Alexander Walther, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany.

By challenging Cold War stereotypes, Socialist Yiddishlands charts the complex landscape of the archipelago of Yiddish culture as it reemerged beyond the "Iron Curtain" after the devastations of the Holocaust. Rather than portraying the interaction between Yiddish culture and communist regimes as a zero-sum game, the contributors explore how Yiddish activists attempted to integrate their visions of diasporic Jewish modernity into realities shaped by those political systems. - Mikhail Krutikov, Professor of Slavic and Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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Socialist Yiddishlands utilizes cutting-edge theories and methods to offer a post-Cold War reexamination of Yiddish cultural production in Eastern bloc countries that moves beyond binaries and ideological interpretations to engage seriously with what was created, the circumstances of its creation, and the ongoing transnational ties amongst Yiddishists throughout the period. This innovative collection of essays will cause many scholars to rethink their assumptions and return to an overlooked oeuvre. - Eliyana Adler, Binghamton University