Articles liés à The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession...

The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession With a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate - Couverture rigide

Puchner, Martin

 
9781324005919: The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession With a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 1324005912 ISBN 13 : 9781324005919
Editeur : W. W. Norton & Company, 2020

Synopsis

Centuries ago in middle Europe, a coded language appeared, scrawled in graffiti and spoken only by people who were "wiz" (in the know). This hybrid language, dubbed Rotwelsch, facilitated survival for people in flight--whether escaping persecution or just down on their luck. It was a language of the road associated with vagabonds, travelers, Jews, and thieves that blended words from Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Romani, Czech, and other European languages and was rich in expressions for police, jail, or experiencing trouble, such as "being in a pickle." This renegade language unsettled those in power, who responded by trying to stamp it out, none more vehemently than the Nazis.

As a boy, Martin Puchner learned this secret language from his father and uncle. Only as an adult did he discover, through a poisonous 1930s tract on Jewish names buried in the archives of Harvard's Widener Library, that his own grandfather had been a committed Nazi who despised this "language of thieves." Interweaving family memoir with an adventurous foray into the mysteries of language, Puchner crafts an entirely original narrative. In a language born of migration and survival, he discovers a witty and resourceful spirit of tolerance that remains essential in our volatile present.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l'auteur

Martin Puchner, the Byron and Anita Wien Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University, is a prize-winning author, educator, public speaker, and institution-builder in the arts and humanities. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
W. W. Norton & Company
Date d'édition
2020
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
1324005912
ISBN 13 
9781324005919
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
288
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible