Introduction to Yiddish Literature

Harvard FAS

This course introduces Yiddish literature from early modern Europe to its developments in North and South America and Israel. Readings include short stories, poetry, novellas, and essays by writers such as Rabbi Nachman, Chava Rosenfarb, Sholem Aleichem, I. L. Peretz, Mendele, I. B. Singer, Blume Lempel, and others. We will examine what defines Yiddish literature and how writers have engaged with questions of identity, ideology, class, gender, ethnicity, and cultural change across different…