THE ARTIFICIALITY OF GERMAN IN MODERN YIDDISH POETRY

One of the chief debates in Yiddish linguistics and literary criticism concerns the issue of daytshmerish (Germanesque). Specifically, scholars question the incorporation of lexical elements from New High German into the literary language of modern Yiddish. After examining the arguments of the major Yiddish linguists and literary critics who pronounced on this subject, this article will highlight examples of this so‐called “borrowing” in the poems of the American Yiddish “sweatshop” poet Morris Rosenfeld (1862–1923). In particular, it will show the way in which these Germanic elements, specifically lexical ones, function on a stylistic level in Rosenfeld’s poetry and contribute to his general poetics.