eddy portnoy - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Academic Advisor and Exhibitions Director at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
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Sh Ma a Journal of Jewish Ideas, Dec 1, 2012
Among the hand-puppet theatres that cropped up in New York during the 1920s was the Modicut theat... more Among the hand-puppet theatres that cropped up in New York during the 1920s was the Modicut theatre, an offshoot of the flourishing Yiddish theatrical literary culture. Created in 1925 by artists-writers-satirists Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler, Modicut enjoyed great success in Yiddish-speaking communities in the United States and Europe. Modicut, satirizing Jewish and general politics and culture of the day, provided an experience unlike anything previously seen in Yiddish theatre.
Eastern European Jewry is indelibly marked by the terms of a folkloric, shtetl-dwelling existence... more Eastern European Jewry is indelibly marked by the terms of a folkloric, shtetl-dwelling existence, according to conventional perception. However, the history of the urban milieu of early-20th century Poland debunks this notion, revealing that Jews created and participated in a variety of public entertainments. Tightrope walkers, fakirs, and professional wrestlers, among others, entertained Jewish audiences, but also allowed both the performers and their fans to express their ethnic and national affiliations.
This article considers the growth and development of Yiddish satire journals as a publishing phen... more This article considers the growth and development of Yiddish satire journals as a publishing phenomenon in the wake of the 1905 revolution, particularly in consideration of the unusual nature of the legal, political, and social positions of Jews in the Empire. Also considered is the proliferation of cartoons and their visual critiques of Jewish life. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were approximately four million Jews in lands governed by Russia, the largest Jewish settlement in the world at the time. Despite the existence of this considerable and largely literate population, there was no viable Jewish press of which to speak. It was simply not permitted. Legislation surrounding the Jews of the Russian Empire was designed to keep them at odds with other ethnic populations and, perhaps more importantly, uninformed. Concerned with a perceived Jewish fifth column, the Tsarist government enacted severe limitations and censorship of Jewish publications. As a result, a modern Yiddish literature and press got off to a very late start in what was its largest cultural center.1)
Sh Ma a Journal of Jewish Ideas, Dec 1, 2012
Among the hand-puppet theatres that cropped up in New York during the 1920s was the Modicut theat... more Among the hand-puppet theatres that cropped up in New York during the 1920s was the Modicut theatre, an offshoot of the flourishing Yiddish theatrical literary culture. Created in 1925 by artists-writers-satirists Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler, Modicut enjoyed great success in Yiddish-speaking communities in the United States and Europe. Modicut, satirizing Jewish and general politics and culture of the day, provided an experience unlike anything previously seen in Yiddish theatre.
Eastern European Jewry is indelibly marked by the terms of a folkloric, shtetl-dwelling existence... more Eastern European Jewry is indelibly marked by the terms of a folkloric, shtetl-dwelling existence, according to conventional perception. However, the history of the urban milieu of early-20th century Poland debunks this notion, revealing that Jews created and participated in a variety of public entertainments. Tightrope walkers, fakirs, and professional wrestlers, among others, entertained Jewish audiences, but also allowed both the performers and their fans to express their ethnic and national affiliations.
This article considers the growth and development of Yiddish satire journals as a publishing phen... more This article considers the growth and development of Yiddish satire journals as a publishing phenomenon in the wake of the 1905 revolution, particularly in consideration of the unusual nature of the legal, political, and social positions of Jews in the Empire. Also considered is the proliferation of cartoons and their visual critiques of Jewish life. By the mid-nineteenth century, there were approximately four million Jews in lands governed by Russia, the largest Jewish settlement in the world at the time. Despite the existence of this considerable and largely literate population, there was no viable Jewish press of which to speak. It was simply not permitted. Legislation surrounding the Jews of the Russian Empire was designed to keep them at odds with other ethnic populations and, perhaps more importantly, uninformed. Concerned with a perceived Jewish fifth column, the Tsarist government enacted severe limitations and censorship of Jewish publications. As a result, a modern Yiddish literature and press got off to a very late start in what was its largest cultural center.1)