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A researcher writes for his people: who writes what language for whom and when?

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Published/Copyright: December 10, 2016

Abstract

What does a scholar of endangered languages and the sociology of language write to his own people in their language? A review of Joshua (Shikl) Fishman’s column in the Yiddish quarterly Afn shvel from 1982–2002 reveals the repeated theme of urging his secular Yiddish readers to establish residential enclaves of young families who speak Yiddish with their children. He shared his knowledge of the language revitalization and standardization efforts of other groups, including ultra-Orthodox Hasidim, Frieslanders, Irish, Norwegians, and Welsh. These heartfelt pleas reflected his own bereavement following the decimation of the East European Yiddish heartland during the Holocaust and the disappearance of a vibrant Yiddish secular life in America. Nevertheless, Fishman applauded and supported the efforts of young people aimed at revitalizing Yiddish.

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges the help of the library staff of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Pennsylvania. The author delivered an earlier version of this article in Yiddish at the Sholem Aleichem Culture Center, Bronx, New York, 11 October 2015, at an event in memory of Shikl (Joshua) Fishman. The Center is the successor organization to the Sholem Aleichem Folk Shul #21, a secular, primary, ethnic language school that functioned as supplementary to the local public school, and to which Gella and Shikl Fishman sent their sons. It was located on the same street as their house. Since the mid-1970s, Shikl Fishman presented the first talk of the cultural season at the Center each fall in Yiddish, in memory of his parents.

References

Joshua A. Fishman works cited using his name Shikl Fishman

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Joshua A. Fishman’s works cited using his pseudonym Yehoshue Aronovitsh

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Joshua A. Fishman’s works cited using his name Joshua A. Fishman

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Other works cited

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Published Online: 2016-12-10
Published in Print: 2017-1-1

©2017 by De Gruyter Mouton

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