Nudge, Wink in Whitechapel: Secret histories from the lyrics of the Cockney-Yiddish Music hall at the turn of the Twentieth Century
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Book Launch
Admission: Free |
From the late 1890s a vibrant Yiddish music hall developed in the East-End of London. Immigrant writers and performers wrote heartfelt, moving, and humorous songs about their experiences of changing times, and in true music hall style, with cheeky innuendo alluding to sexual contact. This talk will analyze songs which engage with the changing roles of men and women, sex in and out of marriage, and the community's 'dirty linen', uncovering previously untold histories.
About the Speaker
Vivi Lachs is a historian, Yiddishist and performer. Associate Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London, her book Whitechapel Noise: Jewish Immigrant Life in Yiddish Song and Verse, London 1884-1914 was published by Wayne State University Press earlier this year. She performs and records with the bands Klezmer Klub (Whitechapel, mayn Vaytshepl) and Katsha’nes (Don’t Ask Silly Questions).