Yiddish Ethnography and An-ski

Yiddish Ethnography and An-ski

From New Books in Language and Translation by Marshall Poe

May 29, 2026

About this episode

This episode explores Sh. An-ski's ethnographic work and its connections to his play, The Dybbuk, within the context of Russian politics.

Sh. An-ski (Shloyme-Zanvl Rappoport, 1863-1920) was a writer in Russian and Yiddish, a revolutionary, a wartime relief worker, and an ethnographer who studied the Jews of the Russian Empire. During his 1911-1914 expeditions to shtetls in Ukraine—he would report—he and his co-workers took 1000 photographs, recorded 1000 Yiddish songs and 1500 stories, and purchased 400 objects for a Jewish museum. The expedition also inspired An-ski to write his signature play, The Dybbuk. Although East European Jews used ethnographic tools to study themselves both before and after An-ski’s expeditions, he retains an outsize status in the field of Yiddish ethnography, strongly tied to the success of his play. This talk explores the connections between An-ski’s ethnographic work, his play, and the Russian politics of his era. This lecture originally took place on July 8, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/language

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Topics covered

  • Yiddish ethnography
  • Sh. An-ski
  • Jewish culture
  • Russian politics
  • The Dybbuk
  • shtetls

Keywords

  • Yiddish
  • ethnography
  • Sh. An-ski
  • The Dybbuk
  • Jewish museum
  • shtetls
  • Russian Empire

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Dybbuk

Places: Russian Empire, Ukraine

More episodes of New Books in Language and Translation

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the New Books in Language and Translation podcast page.