Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the rich treasury of Sholem Aleichem translations, focusing primarily—though not exclusively—on the European context. The transformations of his Jewish characters, their fortes and foibles, their inimitable humour and poignant tragedies, are pursued here through their Polish, Russian, German, Danish, English, and Estonian incarnations. The book deals with aspects of the reception and interpretation of Sholem Aleichem's works in the Soviet Union. Gennady Estraikh addresses the politics and ideology of the Russian translations, considering both the Yiddish and the Russian cultural contexts. Jan Schwarz, one of the translators of Sholem Aleichem into Danish, places translation both in a local as well as a world-cultural context. In his analysis, the musical and the movie Fiddler on the Roof, for better or worse, brought the work of Sholem Aleichem to the attention of an international non-Jewish audience.