Alan Astro has compiled the first anthology of Latin American Yiddish writings translated into English. Included are works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Cuba, with one brief memoir by a Russian rabbi who arrived in San Antonio, Texas, in 1910.
Literature has always served as a refuge for Yiddish speakers, and the Yiddish literature of Latin America reflects the writers' assertions of their political rights. Stories depicting working-class life in Buenos Aires are reminiscent of the work of New York writers like Abraham Cahan (founder of Jewish Daily Forward) or Henry Roth (author of Call It Sleep).
In Latin America, Ashkenazic immigrants--Jews from France, Germany, and Eastern Europe--explore their possible links to the Crypto Jews who came to the New World to escape the Inquisition. Yiddish South of the Border features these themes of identity that permeate this literature and so much more.
Alan Astro has compiled the first anthology of Latin American Yiddish writings translated into English. Included are works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, and Cuba, with one brief memoir by a Russian rabbi who arrived in San Antonio, Texas, in 1910.
Literature has always served as a refuge for Yiddish speakers, and the Yiddish literature of Latin America reflects the writers' assertions of their political rights. Stories depicting working-class life in Buenos Aires are reminiscent of the work of New York writers like Abraham Cahan (founder of Jewish Daily Forward) or Henry Roth (author of Call It Sleep).
In Latin America, Ashkenazic immigrants--Jews from France, Germany, and Eastern Europe--explore their possible links to the Crypto Jews who came to the New World to escape the Inquisition. Yiddish South of the Border features these themes of identity that permeate this literature and so much more.
Alan Astro is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.
"Latin American Yiddish literature is greater and more varied than
most imagine it would be. Despite its long life and widespread
presence, the Latin influence, linguistically and culturally in
Yiddish writing, has been neglected by scholars. Yiddish South of
the Border is the first ever anthology of Latin American Yiddish
works translated into English. . . . Excellent for Yiddish group
readings and discussions."--Der Bay Jewish Newsletter
"This pioneering anthology whets the readers appetite, and
encourages one to hope that many more translations of Latin
American Yiddish writing will soon join its ranks."--Shofar
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