Yiddish: Children's Literature and Children in Literature

You will explore how Yiddish children’s literature developed from the late nineteenth century to today. You follow its growth from early translations of well known authors like Andersen and Dickens to original works by leading Yiddish writers and poets. Many of these authors worked with prominent Jewish illustrators. Their collaborations created books that exceeded the expectations for children’s literature at the time. The stories appealed to young readers and still speak to people of all ages.

You learn how these texts reflect different aspects of Jewish identity and how cultural and ideological ideas shaped them. You also examine universal themes such as childhood, conflicts between generations, poverty and violence. These themes make the literature meaningful across different periods and places. Throughout the course, you use historical and cultural perspectives and apply theories from childhood studies when interpreting the texts.

By studying a wide range of materials, you gain insight into how Yiddish children’s literature expresses both the specific experiences of Jewish life and broader human themes. The course gives you tools to understand how these stories were created, how they were received and why they remain relevant today.

Course literature

The course literature listed may be updated up to eight weeks before the course begins.

The teaching is conducted through lectures and mandatory seminars. The assessment is carried out through a written take-home exam and one oral presentation.

The course is often offered remotely. When this is the case, you will have support through the online learning platform Canvas. The course includes in this case regular lessons via Zoom. These lessons are not recorded. You will need access to a computer with an internet connection, a webcam, and a headset throughout the entire course period.

Do you want to deepen your understanding of Yiddish culture or work with language and research? We offer additional stand-alone courses on Yiddish culture, in English.

By studying Yiddish language courses, you gain access to a rich cultural heritage and a wide range of texts that have yet to be translated or explored. It’s an opportunity to work with unique material and develop your language skills. You start with the course “Yiddish: Beginner's Course I”.

Prerequisites

General requirements

Selection criteria

Seats are allocated according to the following: The general average (GPA) of your higher secondary school leaving certificate: 34 %, The Swedish national university aptitude test: 34 %, number of previous ECTS at application deadline (up to 165): 32 %. If students have equal credentials, seats are allocated based on their results on The Swedish National University Aptitude Test. If this too is equal, seats are allocated based on a draw.

Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens

Citizens of countries outside:

• The European Union (EU)
• The European Economic Area (EEA) and
• Switzerland

are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each
semester.

Tuition fees, payments and exemptions

Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 14,375
First payment: SEK 14,375

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Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.

Application fee

No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland

There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.