The challenges of acculturation. An example of Stunden der Andacht by Fanny Neuda

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present one of the works of Fanny Neuda – the Jewish writer living in the second half of the nineteenth century in Moravia and Vienna. Her work - Stunden der Andacht was the first prayer book for Jewish women written in German by a woman, which was published several times, mostly with the Gothic fonts, but partly also with Yiddish and Hebrew letters.  Renouncement from prayers in Hebrew or Yiddish resulted, that authoress had to face the challenges of process of linguistic acculturation: not only choose (and change) the language and alphabet, but also translations of words not spoken openly in Jewish tradition (e.g. the name of God), or multimeanings Hebrew words. She preserved also the Hebrew names and dates of Jewish holidays. That illustrate the linguistic and religious diversity of German-speaking Jews. In addition, the prayers confirm the complex identity of Jews and the progress of liturgical reform and transformations of religious customs.