The Voting Rights: Feminine Speech Patterns in the Prose of Friedrich Gorenstein and Sholem Aleichem

In: Tirosh. Jewish, Slavic & Oriental Studies, Issue 21, p. 95-107

Abstract

The article explores the features of feminine speech patterns in Friedrich Gorenstein's play «Berdichev». Gorenstein was one of the few writers of the late 20 th century who was interested in the Jewish culture and its language. His play «Berdichev» excels in uniting Russian and Yiddish languages. The drama is built on the author's experience and is full of photography-like details. However, under the autobiographical layer, one can find Gorenstein's dialogue with the writers who were important to him. This constant referencing was his literary strategy. What is more, it was essential for Gorenstein to emphasize his Jewish identity. He was able to do it because of Sholem Aleichem. A classic became Gorenstein's source of knowledge about Jewish life, its language, and habitats. That is why «Berdichev» has a lot of parallels with Sholem Aleichem's novels. Gorenstein's linguistic construction of monologues, type of characters, and even structure of the play are similar to Sholem Aleichem.