GENDER ROLES, LOVE, AND ROMANCE IN YIDDISH LITERATURE AND FILM

Family Values, Love, and Romance Good daughter and a doting father. Cross-dressing without provocation, for a defensive purpose. Reinforcement of traditional morality. “Desexualized” love scenes. Comedic and comic approach. Four different love stories in the film, all leading to marriage.

“Yentl the Yeshiva Boy” by Isaac Bashevis Singer How is Yentl different from a traditional Jewish woman? What similarities are there between “Yentl” and Yiddle (characters, events, scenes, etc.)? What are the differences between Yentl and Hadass? How is gender confusion presented?

Dvora (Devorah) Baron (1887-1956) Born in a shtetl in Belorussia. Daughter of a rabbi. Under her father’s guidance, studied the same things as boys; received secular education as well. Started writing in Yiddish as a young teen. In 1910, moved to Palestine. Switched to writing in Hebrew. Was rebellious against traditional gender roles.

Heder (in Belorussia, early XXth cent.)

“Kaddish” by Dvora Baron What happens to the culturally prescribed gender roles in the story? Who and why allows/promotes female religious education? How can the ending be interpreted?

“Bubbe Henya” by Dvora Baron What qualities is the old woman ascribed in the story? What traditional aspects of women’s life are depicted? What functions unusual for her gender does the protagonist perform? How and why is she described as a mysterious figure?

“Holiday Dainties” by Sholem Aleichem Who is the narrator? What topics does she touch upon? What does she say about gender roles? How does her language characterize her? What are her “others,” her “us” and “them”?

David Bergelson (1884 –1952) Born in a shtetl in Ukraine. Lived in Germany before the rise of Nazis. Died (executed) in the Stalinist Soviet Union. Social activist, proponent of Yiddish culture. Wrote essays, novels, and short stories in Hebrew, Russian, and Yiddish. Avant-gard, impressionist prose.

“In the Boardinghouse” by David Bergelson What’s “suspicious” about the boardinghouse? To whom? What are the girls’ most striking characteristics? How is their social status described? Who and why gossips about the girls?