Italy embraces Yiddish culture with unprecedented I.J. Singer translation

Italy is experiencing a significant cultural moment with the publication of "Viaggi in America" (Travels in America), the first Italian translation of Israel Joshua Singer's 1930s journalistic writings for the Yiddish newspaper Forverts. The book captures Singer's initial encounters and observations upon arriving in the United States, offering a unique perspective on American life and its Jewish inhabitants through the eyes of a European outsider.

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Americans are a difficult people to understand. They have tried at all costs to be, in every aspect, the opposite of Europeans.

Commissioned by Abraham Cahan, the editor of the Forverts, Singer's articles aimed to demystify America for his Yiddish-speaking readership. His dispatches cover a range of experiences, from the bustling Jewish Lower East Side of New York to the glamour of Hollywood and the industrial might of a General Motors factory in Michigan. Singer, the elder brother of Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, was once more widely known within the Yiddish literary world, but his work has since been overshadowed by his brother's fame.

The "Viaggi in America" collection arrives at a time of renewed interest in Yiddish literature across Italy. This resurgence is fueled by the increasing accessibility of digital archives, a growing community of translators, and a new generation of readers drawn to the richness of Yiddish culture. The book's publisher, Shulim Vogelmann, asserts that "Yiddish is alive and well, even in Italy."

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Yiddish is alive and well, even in Italy.

Anna Linda Callow, who translated Singer's novel "The Family Carnovsky" into Italian, attributes the success of Yiddish literature in Italy to its profound emotional depth, stating that these are "books written in blood." She explains that Yiddish literature emerged from a society grappling with immense societal shifts, the fall of empires, and critical historical questions, resonating with contemporary readers facing their own complex realities.

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I think the reason books like ‘The Family Carnovsky’ succeed [in Italy] is that they are books written in blood.