One of the essential pillars of Yiddish literature since its beginnings in the 13th century has been translation. In the 20th century, the desire to belong to world literature stimulated Yiddish intellectuals to translate works of foreign literature into Yiddish – in a brilliant display of literary force. With a focus on Yiddish cultural spaces in the Soviet Union and Poland, the present volume is devoted to the transnational and ‘translational’ state of Yiddish literature in various places and periods. Alongside reflections on the craft of translation, the volume includes accounts of literary translations and the practices of self-translation and collective, intermedial and cultural translation. Twelve scholarly contributions illuminate the function and meaning of translation for this minority language as a Jewish national language and for Yiddish literature as world literature.

Mit Band 5 präsentiert die Reihe Jiddistik: Edition & Forschung erstmals in einer kommentierten wissenschaftlichen Edition vier altjiddische Versepen aus dem sechzehnten Jahrhundert, die nur in historischen Einzelexemplaren erhalten sind. Diese Werke sind typisch für das einst populäre Genre der altjiddischen Bibelepik. Die Erzählungen greifen auf Stoffe der jüdischen Quellen zum Buch Josua und dem Buch der Richter zurück; sie adaptieren Stil- und Formelemente der mittelalterlichen deutschsprachigen Heldenliteratur und erweitern den biblischen Stoff um Passagen, welche die kulturellen Umstände ihrer Entstehung, vermutlich im deutschen und italienischen Sprachraum, widerspiegeln. Da diese Werke zu den frühesten Beispielen biblischer Versepen in jiddischer Sprache gehören, berührt deren Analyse auch die Ursprünge dieser Gattung und zeichnet ihren Weg von der Mündlichkeit zur Schriftlichkeit nach. Die kommentierte Edition präsentiert das Original im Älteren Jiddisch zusammen mit einer englischsprachigen Einführung.

A groundbreaking critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East that is—three decades after its first publication—one of the most important books written about our divided world. "Intellectual history on a high order ... and very exciting." —The New York Times In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined "the orient" simply as "other than" the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding.

A brilliant work from the most influential philosopher since Sartre. In this indispensable work, a brilliant thinker suggests that such vaunted reforms as the abolition of torture and the emergence of the modern penitentiary have merely shifted the focus of punishment from the prisoner's body to his soul.