Processing "Alphabet City" in Abraham Cahan's Yekl. A Tale of the New York Ghetto (1896)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13136/2281-4582/2013.i2.293Keywords:
Jewish, Abraham Cahan, Yekl, A Tale of The New York GhettoAbstract
In the quote taken from Vladimir Nabokov’s Pnin, the Russian-American writer measures – on linguistic and phonological parameters – the ability of his semi-autobiographical protagonist to behave correctly in the adopted homeland. The short excerpt is stylistically tantamount, but at the same time momentous in the history of American ‘ethnic’ literature, with reference to the literary experiment Abraham Cahan (1860-1951) performed in his novella Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto (1896). This short book mirrors an eminently transitional socio-cultural framework through the representation of a peculiar descriptive element: the immigrant’s linguistic identity in trans-Atlantic dimension. The contact between the writer’s sharp view and what he actually saw generated a book deeply influenced by the illustration of imperfection in his protagonists’ speech. Manhattan’s Lower East Side Jewish neighborhood – the ghetto Cahan wanted to describe and possibly explain to the American audience – was inhabited by immigrants whose mother-tongue, to quote Vladimir Nabokov’s citation pointed out above, sounded like “music”, but whose English represented alphabetical “murder”. Cahan’s novella is set in the critical time of mass immigration, when a couple of millions of eastern ashkenazic Jews left eastern Europe and settled in the United States (Geipel 3). The disruption of narrative language, which mirrors in almost naturalist fashion first generation immigrants’ obvious failure to use the language of mainstream society, constitutes as I see it one of the primary critical keys to understand the text. By means of a highly sophisticated articulation of racialized dialogue, Cahan fictionalizes a series of socio-cultural issues: the settlement of an eastern European community in New York City, the linguistic configuration of the Lower East Side at that time, and in general the ways in which the United States inform and deform immigrants’ attitudes towards life in an alien society. Narrative language in Yekl – far from playing the simple role of a means to constitute a literary form – should therefore be understood as an explanation for the eternal transformational practices that influence the evolution of ideology and society, especially in the multiple socio-cultural contexts that have shaped (and are still shaping) the United States – a complex issue which has recently been investigated most interestingly by Roberto Cagliero and Anna Belladelli (2013).References
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, 1983.
Bakhtin, Mikhail. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Austin: U of Texas P, 1981.
Steinmetz, Sol, Payson R. Stevens, and Charles M. Levine. Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Cagliero, Roberto and Anna Belladelli. American English(es): Linguistic and Sociocultural Perspectives. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
Cahan, Abraham. Yekl and The Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories of the New York Ghetto. New York: Dover Publications, 1970 (1896).
Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David Levinsky: A Novel. New York: Penguin Books, 1993 (1917).
Fine, David M.“In the Beginning: American-Jewish Fiction, 1880-1930.” Handbook of American-Jewish Literature: An Analytical Guide to Topics, Themes and Sources. Ed. Lewis Fried. New York: Greenwood P, 1988. 15-34.
Fischer, Pascal. Yidishkeyt und Jewishness. Identität in jüdisch-amerikanischer Literatur unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Sprache. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag, 2003.
Geipel, John. Mame Loshn (ןושל ﬠמאמ). The Making of Yiddish. London: The Journeyman Press, 1982.
Gold,David L. “An Introduction to Jewish English.” Jewish Language Review 6 (1986): 94-120.
Harshav, Benjamin. The Meaning of Yiddish. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1990.
Howe, Irving. “Introduction”. The Legacy of the Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact. Ed. David Berger. New York: Columbia UP, 1983. I-V.
Lewandowski,Marcin. “The Socio-Cultural Role of Jewish Contributions to American Slang.” Lingua Posnaniensis 39 (1997): 39-49.
Marovitz, Sanford E. Abraham Cahan. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996.
Ozick, Cynthia. “Toward a New Yiddish.” Art and Ardor. New York: Knopf, 1983. 151-177.
Rischin, Moses.“Abraham Cahan: Guide Across the American Chasm.” The Legacy of the Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact. Ed. David Berger. New York: Columbia UP, 1983. 73-84.
Roskies, David G. “Modern Jewish Literature.” From Mesopotamia to Modernity: Ten Introductions to Jewish History and Literature. Ed. Burton L. Visotzky and David E. Fishman. Boulder: Westview P, 1999. 233-254.
Steinmetz,Sol. “Jewish English in the United States.” American Speech 56.1 (1981): 3-16.
Steinmetz,Sol. Dictionary of Jewish Usage. A guide to the Use of Jewish Terms. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Steinmetz, Sol, Payson R. Stevens and Charles M. Levine. Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Strazzanti, Nicola M. “Jewish English: Re-Territorializing Yiddishland in the United States.” American English(es): Linguistic and Sociocultural Perspectives. Ed. Roberto Cagliero and Anna Belladelli. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013. 24-39.
Susholtz, Shimon. “Who Needs Yiddish?” Never Say Die! A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters. Ed. Joshua A. Fishman. The Hague: Mouton, 1981. 219-224.
Tannen, Deborah. “New York Jewish Conversational Style.” The Discourse Reader. Ed. Adam Jaworski and Nikolas Coupland. London, New York: Routledge, 1999. 459-473.
Waxman,Chaim. “Language and Identity Among America’s Jews.” Present and Future: Jewish Culture, Identity and Language. Ed. David Zisenwine and David Schers. Tel Aviv: Studies in Jewish Culture Identity and Community, 1999. 63-74.
Bakhtin, Mikhail. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Austin: U of Texas P, 1981.
Steinmetz, Sol, Payson R. Stevens, and Charles M. Levine. Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Cagliero, Roberto and Anna Belladelli. American English(es): Linguistic and Sociocultural Perspectives. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
Cahan, Abraham. Yekl and The Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories of the New York Ghetto. New York: Dover Publications, 1970 (1896).
Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David Levinsky: A Novel. New York: Penguin Books, 1993 (1917).
Fine, David M.“In the Beginning: American-Jewish Fiction, 1880-1930.” Handbook of American-Jewish Literature: An Analytical Guide to Topics, Themes and Sources. Ed. Lewis Fried. New York: Greenwood P, 1988. 15-34.
Fischer, Pascal. Yidishkeyt und Jewishness. Identität in jüdisch-amerikanischer Literatur unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Sprache. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag, 2003.
Geipel, John. Mame Loshn (ןושל ﬠמאמ). The Making of Yiddish. London: The Journeyman Press, 1982.
Gold,David L. “An Introduction to Jewish English.” Jewish Language Review 6 (1986): 94-120.
Harshav, Benjamin. The Meaning of Yiddish. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1990.
Howe, Irving. “Introduction”. The Legacy of the Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact. Ed. David Berger. New York: Columbia UP, 1983. I-V.
Lewandowski,Marcin. “The Socio-Cultural Role of Jewish Contributions to American Slang.” Lingua Posnaniensis 39 (1997): 39-49.
Marovitz, Sanford E. Abraham Cahan. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996.
Ozick, Cynthia. “Toward a New Yiddish.” Art and Ardor. New York: Knopf, 1983. 151-177.
Rischin, Moses.“Abraham Cahan: Guide Across the American Chasm.” The Legacy of the Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact. Ed. David Berger. New York: Columbia UP, 1983. 73-84.
Roskies, David G. “Modern Jewish Literature.” From Mesopotamia to Modernity: Ten Introductions to Jewish History and Literature. Ed. Burton L. Visotzky and David E. Fishman. Boulder: Westview P, 1999. 233-254.
Steinmetz,Sol. “Jewish English in the United States.” American Speech 56.1 (1981): 3-16.
Steinmetz,Sol. Dictionary of Jewish Usage. A guide to the Use of Jewish Terms. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
Steinmetz, Sol, Payson R. Stevens and Charles M. Levine. Meshuggenary: Celebrating the World of Yiddish. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Strazzanti, Nicola M. “Jewish English: Re-Territorializing Yiddishland in the United States.” American English(es): Linguistic and Sociocultural Perspectives. Ed. Roberto Cagliero and Anna Belladelli. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013. 24-39.
Susholtz, Shimon. “Who Needs Yiddish?” Never Say Die! A Thousand Years of Yiddish in Jewish Life and Letters. Ed. Joshua A. Fishman. The Hague: Mouton, 1981. 219-224.
Tannen, Deborah. “New York Jewish Conversational Style.” The Discourse Reader. Ed. Adam Jaworski and Nikolas Coupland. London, New York: Routledge, 1999. 459-473.
Waxman,Chaim. “Language and Identity Among America’s Jews.” Present and Future: Jewish Culture, Identity and Language. Ed. David Zisenwine and David Schers. Tel Aviv: Studies in Jewish Culture Identity and Community, 1999. 63-74.
Downloads
Published
2013-12-01
Issue
Section
Articles (general section) - American language, literature, and culture
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Nicola Maurizio Strazzanti
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Iperstoria is an Open Access journal.- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 BY-NC License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of their work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. We require authors to inform us of any instances of re-publication.
