Description
Book SynopsisThis book explores the ways in which Jews were part of, not apart from, both the Soviet system and Jewish history. Soviet Jewish culture worked within contemporary Jewish national and cultural trends and simultaneously participated in the larger project of propagating the Soviet state and ideology.
Trade Review"...enlightening and...enjoyable." American Historical Review
"...an important contribution...moves beyond many of the stereotypically conventional ways historians have portrayed Soviet Jewish intellectuals in the past...well-documented study." Mark L. von Hagen, Columbia University
"Shneer's masterful account of Soviet nationalities policy and Yiddish language politics sets the stage for his discussion of how activists like Esther Frumkina, Moshe Litvakov, and Semen Dimanshteyn promoted Yiddish as Soviet policy." Russian Review, Sean Martin, Cleveland, Ohio
"[an] astute and comprehensive study" Journal of Modern History Abraham Brumberg, Chevy Chase, Marlyand
"This book is a welcome addition to the literature on Jews in eastern Europe. It will appeal to readers in the fields of Russian, Jewish and cultural studies. It could also interest people delving into the cultural aspects of the Jewish past." - Allan Laine Kagedan, Carleton University
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Soviet nationalities policies and the making of the Soviet Yiddish Intelligentsia; 2. Ideology and Jewish language politics: How Yiddish became the national language of Soviet Jewry; 3. Modernising Yiddish; 4. Who owns the means of cultural production? The Soviet Yiddish publishing industry of the 1920s; 5. Engineers of Jewish souls: Soviet Yiddish writers envisioning the Jewish past, present and future; 6. Becoming revolutionary: Izi Kharik and the question of aesthetics, politics and ideology; Afterword. How does the story end?; Appendices; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
