Yiddish literature: from Sholem Aleichem to Isaac Bashevis Singer

Modern Yiddish literature emerged during the nineteenth century in Eastern Europe, transforming a vernacular language long considered minor into a major vehicle of artistic expression. Its three foundational "classics" are Mendele Moykher Sforim (Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh), regarded as the "grandfather" of this literature, Sholem Aleichem, whose tales of Tévié the dairyman later inspired the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and I. L. Peretz, master of the tale and the short story. Yiddish literature depicted with subtlety the life of the shtetl, the tensions between tradition and modernity, the poverty and humor of the Ashkenazi Jewish masses. Its reach extended with emigration to America and achieved international recognition when Isaac Bashevis Singer received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. Struck full force by the Shoah, which annihilated its readership and many of its authors, it remains a corpus of exceptional richness, today studied and translated throughout the world.

Sources & resources

• The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe ↗
• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan