Yiddish Poetry and Popular Song of London, 1884-1914: anglicisation, transnationalism and cultural controversy. Vivienne Rachel Lachs PhD 2016 Department of History Royal Holloway, University of London 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Vivienne Lachs hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Date: 2 Abstract Yiddish-speaking immigrants arriving in London from the early 1880s, developed a rich cultural life. They established a Yiddish press, publishing houses, theatres and music halls. Although these institutions were often small and short-lived, the vibrancy of the popular culture is evident in the hundreds of songs and poems published in newspapers, periodicals, songbooks and penny songsheets. Many of these texts were home-grown, offering tantalising glimpses into London immigrant experience. This thesis analyses the socialist poetry, music-hall song and satirical verse written by immigrants to London about London immigrant life. The texts refer to local ideas, events and politics, alluding to community personalities, known places and English mores. They engage with conflict between Anglo-Jews, immigrant orthodox and socialists, holding positions in topical debates and arguing particular points. They tell unknown tales of changing sexual mores and nuance the place of religious ideas in the process of modernity. As Anglo-Yiddish texts, they can be seen as part of a process of anglicisation. Anglicisation is a contested term, and took different forms depending on the ideology of the writers: socialist revolutionaries, libertine entertainers or traditionally religious satirists. The writers and performers used a wide source of inspiration, and their poetry and song reflects the transnational world they inhabited. Lyrics allude to Eastern European and Yiddish Diaspora cultures, combining elements of the old homeland with new English mores. Some socialist poems became international anthems of the Jewish workers, and popular Anglo-Yiddish songs from the London halls travelled abroad with their singers. Performance was crucial in communicating the layers of meaning, that could only be deciphered by an audience imbued with the transnational cultural mix of immigrant London. I suggest that these layered texts that tier idea upon idea, experience upon experience, local upon transnational constitute a vibrant and revealing aspect of Anglo- Yiddish popular culture. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................6 Note on the Transliteration of the Yiddish...................................................................8 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................9 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 10 The Primary Source Texts ........................................................................................................... 10 Contribution to knowledge ......................................................................................................... 11 Anglo-Yiddish.................................................................................................................................... 13 Popular Culture in the Literature............................................................................................. 14 Methodology...................................................................................................................................... 23 Debate and cultural controversy.......................................................................................... 23 Anglicisation.................................................................................................................................. 24 Transnationalism........................................................................................................................ 28 Performance of the texts.......................................................................................................... 34 Introducing the Chapters ............................................................................................................. 35 Chapter 1: The Landscape of Jewish London 1880-1914...................................... 37 The Anglo-Jewish Community ................................................................................................... 37 The Mass Immigration from Eastern Europe...................................................................... 43 Work and Unions in the Immigrant East End ..................................................................... 47 Religion and Political Ideologies............................................................................................... 55 Anti-Alienism and Restriction.................................................................................................... 62 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 2: Interactions and Influences on Anglo-Yiddish Popular Culture ... 67 Part 1: 1884-1894........................................................................................................................... 68 Socialist poetry............................................................................................................................. 68 The early Yiddish theatre ........................................................................................................ 77 Part 2: 1894-1904........................................................................................................................... 85 The music halls............................................................................................................................. 87 Opposition to the music halls ................................................................................................ 95 Part 3: 1904-1914.........................................................................................................................100 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................104 Chapter 3: The Transnational in Anglo-Yiddish Popular Culture....................105 Hashiveynu nazad: complex entanglements ......................................................................108 London bay nakht: the transplantation of song................................................................115 Viktorye park: the ‘glocal’ imaginary.....................................................................................120 Di simkhes toyre trinker: the contested sphere of religious practice ......................123 Der blofer lakht: telling the truth ............................................................................................127 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................130 Chapter 4: Revolutionising Politics: in the zeyde Winchevsky’s poetry ........132 Poetic Tendencies Towards a Revolutionary Aim ..........................................................140 Londoner siluetn: awakening the heart. .........................................................................140 Tsu di arbeter: awakening the brain and class-consciousness.............................146 Rabiner un mashiner: religious cobwebs.......................................................................150 Notitsn: transform the world...............................................................................................155 4 In di gasn, tsu di masn: an inspired song........................................................................160 Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................................................168 Chapter 5: Transforming Sex: in the East End Yiddish halls..............................169 Sex and the Music Halls...............................................................................................................172 Courtship and pre-marital sex.................................................................................................174 Dansing skul: Locations for courting................................................................................176 Azoy geyt dos gelt avek: Matchmaking and dowry ....................................................180 Haf past nayn: Pre-marital sex ............................................................................................184 Marriage and extra-marital sex...............................................................................................186 Brivelekh fun rusland: marriage tensions......................................................................187 Helo, helo: the extra-marital ‘lodger’................................................................................191 Sexual Exploitation .......................................................................................................................197 Der bal-tovnik: