This book provides a fresh look at ethnic culture in the contemporary United States through an ethnographic account of everyday life in the Jewish community of South Philadelphia. By embracing the language and traditions of their childhood; elderly Jewish residents; the children of immigrants; create a path for the transmission of immigrant culture. The work highlights the role of language in collective memory. The residents’ use of Yiddish and their warm attitude toward the language illuminate their changing and overlapping identifications with the neighborhood; their non-Jewish neighbors; Jewish traditions and religion; and their children and parents.The book serves as a corrective to the view of the second generation that concentrates solely on the framework of mobility and rejection of one’s parents’ culture; neglecting the importance of life cycle changes. It depicts children of immigrants as crucial interpreters of the culture of the immigrants’ homeland as they forge a meaningful existence for themselves and their own children. In the course of the work; the author documents and analyzes for the first time the Yiddish speech of American Jews. He examines the cultural implications of the use of English in Yiddish speech; as well as the change in Yiddish sounds and verbal forms.Throughout; the author carefully examines his own role in revitalizing Yiddish in South Philadelphia as he established close relationships with elderly Jews; meeting them in their homes; shops; and senior center; and leading a Yiddish conversation group at the community center. He thus provides a thoughtful contribution to the methodological discussion among anthropologists; sociologists; and linguists of the paradoxes inherent in participant-observer studies.
#635165 in Books University of Nebraska Press 1981-08-01Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.99 x 1.09 x 5.24l; 1.27 #File Name: 0803297025525 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A Classic Work on an Important RegionBy Eric MayforthWhen I was in my teens and early twenties living within an hour or so of Fort Worth; I would sometimes hear those who had auto trips planned to New Mexico; Colorado; and points west say that they dreaded the drive across the plains of West Texas. I never identified with those who held that opinion; though--I have always enjoyed the sun; big sky; wind; and seemingly endless vistas and have found the Great Plains scenic in their own threadbare way.In the eighty years since Walter Prescott Webb wrote "The Great Plains;" the book has been considered maybe the definitive guide to the geography and history of the region. Webb's central thesis is that at the ninety-eighth meridian West longitude (a line; incidentally; that I crossed every day during the years of college that I commuted); the topography and climate changed so markedly that the institutions; traditions; and customs of Anglo-American life had to be reworked to make settlement of the Great Plains possible.Webb presents the history of the Great Plains in the centuries leading up to his time in the early 1930s. The Native American; Spanish; and Texan explorations and conflicts that took place before the region became part of the United States are recalled. The author discusses how the region blocked Southern expansion and slavery in the mid-nineteenth century and how it was an obstacle to the pioneers who were headed to Oregon. Also remembered are the cowboys and their famed post-Civil War cattle drives; and Webb looks at some of the region's literature and cowboy poetry; which in the nineteenth century was not subsidized by the federal government (grin).The author describes the flora and fauna of the region; including the horse and buffalo. Webb recalls how law; agriculture; and homestead laws had to be refashioned to succeed on the Great Plains; and talks about inventions such as sign language; the six-shooter; barbed wire; and windmills that those who lived in the region used to make life there possible.Then as now; water and water rights were of vital importance on the Great Plains. Webb discusses agriculture and irrigation; and looks at laws and customs that were eventually implemented to govern the use of water. The book is outdated in this section; as it was written before the Ogallala Aquifer was in wide use to irrigate the region."The Great Plains" is still considered a classic work going on a century after Webb wrote it; and anyone who would learn more about this overlooked but fascinating part of our country would definitely find it rewarding.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The KeysBy Stuart McConnellSplendid. The horse; the Colt revolver; the windmill and barbed wire..the keys that unlocked the Great Plains. Very readable1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Where the Treeline EndsBy BrokenArrowI have been reading up on Texas; the push west (Manifest Destiny); the Comanches; the "Dust Bowl" of the 30s; etc. and this book provides excellent background on the Great Plains. It is a well written history and I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
