A note on shtetl definitions and the dating of the first shtetl

Consideration of two different working definitions of a shtetl, and the two different datings of the first shtetl that they produce, leads to the following conclusions. (1) The definition of a shtetl is formed by a set of criteria, one of which distinguishes it from similar settlements by providing a characteristic termed “sufficient Jewishness.” Because “sufficient Jewishness” exists in multiple forms, such as “at least 40% Jewish population,” and “the presence of certain specified institutions of religious observance,” a number of valid definitions can coexist. (2) The dating of the earliest shtetl will vary from one study to another, because it is determined by the selected definition of a shtetl used to arrive at that dating, and ultimately by the selected form of that definition's distinguishing criterion. (3) Therefore, just as more than one definition of a shtetl can coexist, each with a different form of the distinguishing criterion, so more than one valid dating of the first shtetl can coexist.     

The concept of yikhes and its transformation during the Soviet period (based on field materials collected in the town of Tulchin,Ukraine)

It is commonly thought that the concept of yikhes (Hebrew, yikhus) refers largely or even solely to the notion of noble descent. As late as 1959, the Standard Jewish Encyclopedia defined yikhes in these terms; and a similar understanding of the term can be found in other leading sources. Using extensive field materials collected under the auspices of the St Petersburg Judaica Centre, this essay demonstrates, however, that yikhes has a wide variety of meanings in the present‐day Jewish community of Tulchin (Ukraine), which is not limited to genealogical implications and may completely ignore them. The range of meanings associated with yikhes includes secular learning, “honorable” (non‐manual) profession, “respect” on the part of other community members, ethical qualities, etc. Due to a partial or complete loss of Yiddish, many residents of the town know the word yikhes solely from expressions such as “yikhes in the bathhouse,” where this word has lost its independent meaning. Through an anthropological analysis of yikhes as a reflection of social ideas and practices within a small and relatively circumscribed society, the paper demonstrates both the breadth of tradition the concept reflects and the limitations of the ways it is generally presented and understood in the literature.     

‘Between underground and over ground: narratives on the identity of women insurgents in Assam’

ABSTRACT

The Assam Movement (1979–1985) has been a turning point in the politics of Assam in India that has raised the question of identity and at the same time triggered the struggle to self-determination by the insurgent organization United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). This paper aims to take identity as the point of departure to mark the transition of women’s role from the Assam Movement into their underground roles in ULFA. In such narratives of hero-making and patriotism, under-representation of women’s strategic involvement and self-sacrifices in the insurgent outfit often leaves the lives of the women members misrepresented and fails to highlight the in-betweens of life and death. This paper pushes the idea of identity assertion in Northeast India beyond citizenship and questions the way women’s presence in the insurgent organization gets narrated, documented, and established. Oral histories are crucial sources of data for this study.