Memoirs of a Grandmother

Scenes from the Cultural History of the Jews of Russia in the Nineteenth Century, Volume Two

Nonfiction, History, Jewish, Biography & Memoir, Historical
Cover of the book Memoirs of a Grandmother by Pauline Wengeroff, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Pauline Wengeroff ISBN: 9780804790710
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: September 17, 2014
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Pauline Wengeroff
ISBN: 9780804790710
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: September 17, 2014
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

Pauline Wengeroff's Memoirs of a Grandmother offers a unique first-person window into traditionalism, modernity, and the tensions linking the two in nineteenth-century Russia. Wengeroff (1833–1916), a perceptive, highly literate social observer, tells a gripping tale of cultural transformation, situating her narrative in the experience of women and families. In Volume Two, Wengeroff claims that Jewish women were capable and desirous of adopting the best of European modernity but were also wedded to tradition, while Jewish men recklessly abandoned tradition and forced their wives to do the same. The result was not only marital and intergenerational conflict but also catastrophic cultural loss, with women's inability to transmit tradition in the home leading to larger cultural drift. Two of Wengeroff's children converted when faced with anti-Jewish educational and professional discrimination, unwilling to sacrifice secular ambitions and visions for the sake of a traditional culture they did not know. Memoirs is a tale of loss but also of significant hope, which Wengeroff situates not in her children but in a new generation of Jewish youth reclaiming Jewish memory. To them, she addresses her Memoirs, giving an "orphaned youth"—orphaned of their past and culture—a "grandmother."

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Pauline Wengeroff's Memoirs of a Grandmother offers a unique first-person window into traditionalism, modernity, and the tensions linking the two in nineteenth-century Russia. Wengeroff (1833–1916), a perceptive, highly literate social observer, tells a gripping tale of cultural transformation, situating her narrative in the experience of women and families. In Volume Two, Wengeroff claims that Jewish women were capable and desirous of adopting the best of European modernity but were also wedded to tradition, while Jewish men recklessly abandoned tradition and forced their wives to do the same. The result was not only marital and intergenerational conflict but also catastrophic cultural loss, with women's inability to transmit tradition in the home leading to larger cultural drift. Two of Wengeroff's children converted when faced with anti-Jewish educational and professional discrimination, unwilling to sacrifice secular ambitions and visions for the sake of a traditional culture they did not know. Memoirs is a tale of loss but also of significant hope, which Wengeroff situates not in her children but in a new generation of Jewish youth reclaiming Jewish memory. To them, she addresses her Memoirs, giving an "orphaned youth"—orphaned of their past and culture—a "grandmother."

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book Labor and Love in Guatemala by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book Science and Conscience by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book Beyond Nation by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book A Goy Who Speaks Yiddish by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book Just Violence by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book The Great Social Laboratory by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book America's Corporate Art by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book The Politics of American Foreign Policy by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book The Limits of Whiteness by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book Judging Mohammed by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book Protests Against U.S. Military Base Policy in Asia by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book On Limited Nuclear War in the 21st Century by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book The South African Gandhi by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book The Way of the Heavenly Sword by Pauline Wengeroff
Cover of the book Private Management and Public Policy by Pauline Wengeroff
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy