https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42884
type: CreativeWork
name: Jewish folksong: an ethnomusicological study of categories of Yiddish folksongs within the context of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, from the nineteenth century up to World War II, including partisan songs, and songs of the Holocaust and resistance
description: This study sets out to provide a cultural analysis of 56 Yiddish folksongs which are representative of some of the bestknown folksong styles among Ashkenazi Jews. Actual research was carried out over two years, mainly in Cape Town, with short visits abroad to the United Kingdom, and to Israel. The research procedure is based on Gerhard Kubik's 'integrated-study' approach. Accordingly, I approached my subject from several perspectives: historical, sociological, musicological, literary, and linguistic - and researched it on an emic basis. The research material was obtained from a number of sources - from oral information, literature, song collections and sound recordings, and from personal observation. The aim of this study is: (i) to identify intrinsic structural and stylistic features within Yiddish folksongs; (ii) to investigate significant traits concerning their performance practice in their original social contexts, and in presently 'controlled' contexts. The study design is as follows: there are two main parts, Part I and Part II. Part I comprises three chapters: ( i) Chapter 1 is an Introduction giving a historical and socio-cultural overview of Ashkenazi folksong, and the work of pioneer folksong investigators; Chapter 2 surveys historical and political factors which have been largely responsible for the great diversity of Jewish musical traditions, and delineates the various Jewish communities living in geographically defined areas today. The need for comparative studies spanning these different communities is stressed; Chapter 3 is concerned with the history of the Yiddish language, its emergence and development as a spoken language (with dialects), and as a literary language with a standardized orthography; (ii) Part II comprises two chapters: Chapter 1 explains the reasons for my adoption of certain research. procedures, and pays particular attention to the socio-cultural background and content of the songs, and their arrangement according to genre. Each …
abstract: This study sets out to provide a cultural analysis of 56 Yiddish folksongs which are representative of some of the bestknown folksong styles among Ashkenazi Jews. Actual research was carried out over two years, mainly in Cape Town, with short visits abroad to the United Kingdom, and to Israel. The research procedure is based on Gerhard Kubik's 'integrated-study' approach. Accordingly, I approached my subject from several perspectives: historical, sociological, musicological, literary, and linguistic - and researched it on an emic basis. The research material was obtained from a number of sources - from oral information, literature, song collections and sound recordings, and from personal observation. The aim of this study is: (i) to identify intrinsic structural and stylistic features within Yiddish folksongs; (ii) to investigate significant traits concerning their performance practice in their original social contexts, and in presently 'controlled' contexts. The study design is as follows: there are two main parts, Part I and Part II. Part I comprises three chapters: ( i) Chapter 1 is an Introduction giving a historical and socio-cultural overview of Ashkenazi folksong, and the work of pioneer folksong investigators; Chapter 2 surveys historical and political factors which have been largely responsible for the great diversity of Jewish musical traditions, and delineates the various Jewish communities living in geographically defined areas today. The need for comparative studies spanning these different communities is stressed; Chapter 3 is concerned with the history of the Yiddish language, its emergence and development as a spoken language (with dialects), and as a literary language with a standardized orthography; (ii) Part II comprises two chapters: Chapter 1 explains the reasons for my adoption of certain research. procedures, and pays particular attention to the socio-cultural background and content of the songs, and their arrangement according to genre. Each …
author: Singer, Sara Fay
language: en
keywords: Jewish folksongs, Yiddish folksongs, Jewish life, Eastern Europe
date published: 1988
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:10Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: College of Music

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42884