The Discourse on Yiddish in German: From the Enlightenment to the Second Empire (review)

Abstract

by Jeffrey A. Grossman. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2000. 258 pp. $59.00.From German Enlightenment to last third of nineteenth century, Jeffrey Grossmann traces views on Yiddish and East European Jewish culture held by German professionals, scholars, intellectuals and politicians as well as by who, following vision of German Enlightenment, adopted German language and considered emancipation and eventual assimilation if not desideratum, at least inevitable and destiny of Central European Jewry. Grossman's engaging and informative work succeeds in establishing the genealogy of image of Yiddish across range of texts, genres, institutions, and disciplines in context of a changing Germany. The study is inspired by growing interest in things Jewish in post-Shoah world, validity and motivation of which Grossman explores briefly. In recent years Yiddish language and Yiddish literature in translation have enjoyed remarkable popularity both in German-speaking countries and in United States, renouveau that inspired in part Grossman's in-depth examination of function of Yiddish within German and German Jewish culture over past centuries.The issues of religious and racial antisemitism, utilitarian interest in Yiddish on part of Christian missionaries and criminologists, and derogatory representation of speakers of Yiddish in German literature and theater as well as scholarly, but nonetheless biased, discussions on Jewish languages by Herder and Humboldt are central issues in Grossman's study. Concurrently author sketches origins and development of Yiddish alongside and embedded in German culture and explores interaction between German and Yiddish, German-Jewish and traditional Jewish culture, i.e., Yiddish-internal issues that involve construction and reconstruction of Jewish identity in response to changing social and political paradigms during century of transitions. This interrelationship has been briefly addressed in earlier works, e.g., Jacobs and Lorenz's recent article If I were King of Jews (not referenced by Grossman), but clearly study at hand exceeds framework set by earlier scholarship on linguistic/cultural interactions.Grossman explores German discourse on Yiddish in conjunction with decisive historical events and developments. The demise of Holy Roman Empire and ensuing concepts of nationhood and nation state called for new paradigms to configure statehood and language. Grossman's analysis of Herder's and Humboldt's theories of language shows that already existing association between Yiddish, other supposedly corrupted languages such as Romani, and jargon of underworld, Rotwelsch, now confirmed by academics, received scientific approval. …