As the opening of the special issue on shund theater, this introduction situates the four articles and two translations in the history of the study of shund.

Apr 21, 2023

Examining Rose Shomer Bachelis and Miriam Shomer Zunser in the context of their famous shund-writing family, this article argues that their operetta “Der liebes tants” -- a love triangle with an Apache dance motif -- should be read against the grain to emphasize the importance of sisterhood.

Apr 21, 2023

While Hebrew cultural discourse tended to treat Yiddish theatre as a kind of “outside” culture, light entertainment shows in Yiddish reveal close engagement with the central icons and themes of Israeli society.

Apr 21, 2023

Focusing on Abraham M. Sharkansky’s 1896 play Kol nidre, oder di geheyme yidn in madrid (Kol Nidre, or the Secret Jews of Madrid), this article examines how, on both sides of the Atlantic, the Kol Nidre prayer performed in the Yiddish theatre reflected profound modern and migratory cultural transgressions, between categories such as high and low, religion and entertainment, the holy and the theatrical.

Apr 21, 2023

The case study of Yente Telebende is merely one example of popular Yiddish culture — theater, pulp fiction, and newspapers — that strove for commercial success by appealing to the tastes of its audience, shaped by American culture’s vocabulary and images of Blackness.

Apr 21, 2023

A translation of Khone Shmeruk’s foundational article for the study of shund in Yiddish literature.

Apr 21, 2023

Vivi Lachs translates Katie Brown’s Bankrot, a family drama set in London’s East End.

Apr 18, 2023