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At the beginning of the twentieth century, Yiddish was widely viewed, even by many of its speakers, as a corrupt form of German that Jews had to abandon if they hoped to engage in serious intellectual, cultural, or political work. Yet, by 1917, it was the dominant language of the Russian Jewish press, a medium for modern literary criticism, a vehicle for science and learning, and the foundation of an ideology of Jewish liberation. Challenging many longstanding historical conceptions about the founding of modern Yiddish, The Revolutionary Roots of Yiddish Scholarship, 1903-1917 investigates the origins of contemporary Yiddish scholarship.Trachtenberg reveals how, following the model set by other nationalist movements that were developing in the Russian empire, one-time revolutionaries such as the literary critic Shmuel Niger, the Marxist Zionist leader Ber Borochov, and the linguist Nokhem Shtif, dedicated themselves to the creation of a new branch of Jewish scholarship dedicated to their native language. The new "Yiddish science" was concerned with the tasks of standardizing Yiddish grammar, orthography, and word corpus, establishing a Yiddish literary tradition, exploring Jewish folk traditions, and creating an institutional structure to support their language's development. In doing so, the author argues, they hoped to reimagine Russian Jewry as a modern nation with a mature language and culture, and which deserved the same collective rights and autonomy that were being demanded by other nations in the empire.

Jews --- Yiddish language --- Hebrews --- Israelites --- Jewish people --- Jewry --- Judaic people --- Judaists --- Ethnology --- Religious adherents --- Semites --- Judaism --- German Hebrew --- Hebreo-German language --- Jewish language --- Jiddisch language --- Judaeo-German language (Yiddish) --- Judeo-German language (Yiddish) --- Intellectual life --- Social aspects --- History --- Languages --- Shṭif, Naḥum, --- Borochov, Ber, --- Niger, Samuel, --- Bórojov, Ber, --- Barukhov, Ber, --- Borokhov, Ber, --- Borochow, Ber, --- Borochov, Dov, --- Borokhov, Dov Ber, --- Borokhov, B. --- באראכאוב, בער --- באראכאוו, בער --- באראכאוו, בער, --- באראכאוו, ב. --- באראכאוו, ב., --- באראכאוו, ד. ב. --- באראכאו, בער, --- באראכאװ, בער --- באראכאװ, בער, --- באראכאװ, ב. --- בורוכוב, באר --- בורוכוב, בער, --- בורוכוב, בר --- בורוכוב, בר, --- בורוכוב, ב, --- בורוכוב, ב. --- בורוכוב, ב., --- בורוכוב, דב בר --- בורוכוב, דב בר, --- בורכוב, בר --- ברוכוב, בער, --- ברוכוב, בר, --- ברוכוב, ב., --- ברוכוב, ד. ב. --- דאנין --- Niger, Shemuʼel, --- Niger, S., --- Charney, Samuel, --- Ṭsharni, Shemuʼel, --- Niger, Shmuel, --- מיגער, ש. --- ניגער, שמואל --- ניגער, שמואל, --- ניגער, ש. --- ניגער, ש., --- ניגר, שמואל --- ניגר, שמואל, --- ניגר, ש. --- ניגר, ש., --- Shṭif, N. --- Stiff, Nahum, --- N. Sh. --- Stiff, Nachum, --- סטיף, נחום, --- שטיף, נחום, --- שטיף, נ. --- Bal-Dimyen,