Yiddish: Jewish and Christian Bible Translations

<p>Explore how the stories of the Bible have been shaped, translated, and retold in various languages by Jews and Christians for thousands of years. You will discover how language, culture, and history interact as sacred texts are given new life and interpretation over time.</p><p>This course gives you the opportunity to explore how biblical texts have been translated and retold for Jews and Christians throughout history. You will study how Yiddish, German, and Swedish, next to various other languages have been used to make the Jewish Bible, as well as the Christian Bible accessible to people who could not understand the original texts. </p><p>You will read Yiddish texts from the Middle Ages up to today - including literal translations, didactic literature, prose and poetic retellings, as well as dramatic and film adaptations of biblical scenes. To broaden your understanding, you will also compare these with German, English, and Swedish texts, which often differ greatly from Jewish translations and highlight Christian perspectives on the biblical corpus, its interpretation, and its use. </p><p>The course also helps you understand the historical and cultural processes that have shaped biblical translation, such as multilingualism, text criticism, the history of reading and literacy, the rise of printing, humanism, and the Reformation. </p><p>In short, you gain insight into how language, culture, and history together shape the way we read and interpret biblical texts.</p>