Originally published in 1966, An Anthology of Modern Yiddish Poetry was the first bilingual anthology to feature the rich, spirited, and passionate Yiddish poetry of the twentieth century Originally published in 1966, An Anthology of Modern Yiddish Poetry was the first bilingual anthology to feature the rich, spirited, and passionate Yiddish poetry of the twentieth century. Nearly thirty years after the original publication, the interest in Yiddish studies continues to grow, making this definitive collection all the more Significant as a study of influences and developments in Yiddish poetry. Ruth Whitman has skillfully translated the diverse, lyric poetry of fourteen Eastern European-born poets, most of whom came to live in the United States. Of the twenty new poems included in the book, two are by Rachel Korn, three by Kadya Molodowsky, four by Anna Margolin, and four by Celia Dropkin. These additions increase considerably the work of the women poets represented, fulfilling an earlier omission. The anthology also highlights the genius and invention of poets Jacob Glatstein, M.L. Halpern, Moyshe Kulbak, Zisha Landau, H. Leivick, Itzik Manger, Leyb Naydus, Melech Ravitch, Abraham Sutzkever, and Aaron Zeitlin. With a new preface and a revised introduction that provides a short history of the development of Yiddish poetry, the third edition presents seventy-two poems in their original Yiddish and in English translation.These poems reflect the chaos and confusion integral to immigrant culture and the fragmentation of living during two world wars and the Holocaust. In addition the poems reflect the influences of American poetry from the Imagists to Robert Lowell, as well as the influence of German, French, and Russian poetry.
The Karaites, a small Jewish sect that arose twelve centuries ago and still exists today, was at one time the most outspoken and productive schismatic division in Judaism. The Karaites contributed much to the Jewish literature of the Middle Ages, for they developed their own corpus of theological dogmas, liturgy, juristic exegesis, metaphysical concepts, secular poetry, apologetics, and sermons. This anthology-the first of its kind in any language of the West-provides excerpts from the early Karaite literature (down to about the year 1500) representing the full range of their thought and belief. All extracts have been translated directly from Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew original sources. "This book marks the first attempt in any language to present a chronological exposition of seven centuries of evolution of this interesting Jewish sect through a selection of excerpts from the writings of its spokesmen. . . . [A] pioneering achievement."-Zvi Ankori, Jewish Social Studies "Will be of real interest. . . to historians of religion, sociologists of religion, students of Judaism, Talmudic scholars, students of comparative religious law, and scholars interested in the relation between Islam and Judaism in the Middle Ages."-Maurice S. Friedman, The Journal of Religion "The book is an important addition to Qaraite literature in English."-Isis "The texts are wisely chosen, carefully edited, and supplied with copious notes. An excellent introduction to each writer is given. The book is successful from every point of view."-Edward Robertson, The Royal Asiatic Society "The commentaries of [the] scholars. . . are important additions to Jewish scholarly research."-Jewish News
Reflecting current practices in the teaching of writing, the exercises in this compilation were drawn from the journal "Exercise Exchange." The articles are arranged into six sections: sources for writing; prewriting; modes for writing; writing and reading; language, mechanics, and style; and revising, responding, and evaluating. Among the topics covered in the more than 75 exercises are the following: (1) using the Tarot in the composition class; (2) writing for a real audience; (3) writing and career development; (4) teaching the thesis statement through description; (5) sense exploration and descriptive writing; (6) composition and adult students; (7) free writing; (8) in-class essays; (9) moving from prewriting into composing; (10) writing as thinking; (11) values clarification through writing; (12) persuasive writing; (13) the relationship of subject, writer, and audience; (14) business writing; (15) teaching the research paper; (16) writing in the content areas; (17) writing from literature; (18) responding to literature via inquiry; (19) precision in language usage; (20) grammar instruction; (21) topic sentences; (22) generating paragraphs; (23) writing style; (24) peer evaluation; and (25) writing-course final examinations. (FL)
This remarkable volume introduces what is probably the most coherent segment of twentieth-century American literature not written in English. Includes a bilingual facing-page format, notes and biographies of poets, and selections from Yiddish theory and criticism.