Yidishe folkspoezye funem 19tn yorhundert vos lakht op fun modernkeyt"

Proposal for WCJS, Jerusalem 2017

Submitted by Itzik Gottesman, Senior Lecturer,

University of Texas at Austin.

Mocking the Modern in 19th Century

Yiddish Folk Poetry

The numerous strands of 19th century Yiddish folk poetry, a period in which the

traditional society of Eastern Europe was quickly unraveling include the moralistic kind, represented by the popular Eliakum Zunzer of Vilna, as well as the brazenly impudent works of Velvl Zbarzher of Galicia and Romania. One motif that can be found in much of the Yiddish poetry of this time, regardless of whether it is moralizing or poking fun is modern technology. There are many poems of badkhonim and other folk poets that focus on the steam engine train, the telegraph, the zeppelin, among other inventions of the 19th and early 20th century.

This talk will examine how these modern inventions were used as metaphors in the Yiddish folk poetry of the century to comment on contemporary society.

Among the poets to be included in this overview will be: Eliakum Zunzer, Velvl Zbarzher, Moyshe Marakhovski and Y. Y. Linetski.