Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.098 August 31, 1994 1) Introductions (Tim Oberlander and Julie Martz) 2) Der Forverts (Yankl Salant) 3) Lernen yidish in teleshul (Peter Kluehs) 4) Translating macaronic language (Louis Fridhandler) 5) Problems of Translation (Michael Michlin) 6) Jimmy Cagney (Meyshe-Yankl Sweet) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 22:58:20 From: timothyo@unixg.ubc.ca Subject: Introductions We are tim oberlander (a yekke) and Julie Martz, the more ernst of the 2 hyper-amateur Yiddish afficionados. We are recently transplanted in Vancouver, canada after 2 years in boston and 5 in montreal, canada. We think mendele is the bee's knees and wish everyone knew and used it.. Avade, hoben mir a klein frage oder tzvey.We are looking for a yiddish name for our next baby, due december. we have never seen a collection or list, published or otherwise, of yiddish names. Is there one of any kind obtainable?? Die tzveyte frage iz:is there anyone out there in the Pacific Northwest or thereabouts who has been or is interested in teaching their young children Yiddish as folks are wont to do back east? we are not finding anyone up here who is so inclined and do not have the coyakh to do this all alone. anyone out there within visiting distance? if not, corresponding distance may have to do. Tim Oberlander and Julie Martz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 23:00:38 EDT From: Yankl191@aol.com Subject: Der Forverts Shleyme, I invited Yosl Mlotek to be the keynote speaker at the siyem for the 1994 Columbia Yiddish Summer Program. When he was dictating his biographical notes to me, he mentioned that he is the writer of "In der velt fun yidish". Ir zayt gerekht: Y. Hamer iz a psevdonim. Yankl Salant 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 30 Aug 1994 19:52:00 +0200 From: pete@pko.rhein-main.de Subject: Lernen yidish in teleshul!? Khosheve mendele khevraye! Ikh hob nechtn gezen a zeyer sheynem kholem! Ot, undzer shames, a gezunt in zayn pupik, hot in mayn kholem firgelegt tsu organisirn far ale mendelniks, velkhe zenen interesirt tsu lernen yidish oder tsu iberkhazern dos, vos zey shoyn visn, a teleshul. Tsuerscht hot er gefregt, ver fun dem oylem volt gevolt partitsipirn in aza naye avanture. Es hot sich bavizn interesirt an erekh yeder tsveyte fun di mitglider!!! Er hot sich shtark gekhidesht vegn an aza groysn cheyshek tsu lernen mame-loshn un derfar hot er geklert, viazoy vet men kenen realizirn dos vos es vintshn sikh di mendelniks. In mayn kholem, er hot gemakht oyf der gikh a telefonishe asife mit farsheydene fun zeyne khaveyrim velkhe gebn yidishe kursn in colleges. Se dukht sich, az m'hot im firgelegt tsu nemen lemoshl dos bukh College Yiddish un tsushikn yede vokh a lektsye tsu ale mendelniks. Mit a yeder vayterdikn lektsye zoln di mendelniks bakumen di resultatn fun der friern lektsye. Azoy vet men derleyzn di oyfgabes mit fargenign, az men zet, vos iz shoyn rikhtik geven un velkhe teusim darf men nokh farrikhtn. Vos meynt ir, khaveyrim, volt geven sheyn az doziker kholem volt gevorn vor? Blaybt gezunt alemen, ikh vel zayn avek fun mendele in khoydesh september, ober in oktober tsurik mit a nayem koyekh. Peter Kluehs 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 30 Aug 94 20:32:07 EDT From: 74064.1661@compuserve.com Subject: Translating macaronic language?? Oy Vey! Bob Hoberman's discussion about a paper by his student, Ken Wishnia, is fascinating (4.097). My guess is that the one-act play he translated is Oylem Habe of 1915 about Mr. and Mrs. Cherkis in America, torn from their roots. They are pathetically easy marks for a scam. They are convinced to buy a share of the world to come from a phony frumer yid and his shills. I have just read it again. It's hilarious with a poignant undertone. I once tried to translate it with little real success or improvement over Mark Schweid's translation. The macaronic language of those greenhorns tragically lost in American cultural limbo is _sui generis_ (her nor, vi in mitn derinen, hakt men arayn a bisl latayn!). How to render such multilingual speech for English-readers who are mainly monolingual is a challenge indeed. To Bob Hoberman: Where will your student's paper be published. I'd like to read it. Was my guess correct? Louis Fridhandler 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 94 07:49:45 -0500 From: mmichlin@maroon.tc.umn.edu Subject: Problems of Translation Let me encourage the Mendelniks whose interest in problems of translation would give them the energy to work through a major work on these issues to look at George Steiner's After Babel. Steiner's massive work came out in 1975 with a revised edition in 1992 (Steiner, George. After Babel: Aspects Of Language And Translation. 2nd. P306 .S66 1992) Michael Michlin 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 22:38:44 CST From: msweet@facstaff.wisc.edu Subject: Jimmy Cagney--Shabbos goy, oder nit? In Zellig Bach's posting on non-Jewish Yiddish speakers he mentions Jimmy Cagney's famous Yiddish monologue in "Taxi". The story I've always heard is that he was a fluent speaker, having worked as a shabbos goy in a Lower East Side shul when he was young. None of the movie books that I have close to hand confirm this--any Cagneyphiles out there have the real scoop? Meyshe-Yankl Sweet ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.098 A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu