“Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character
The Yiddish word “luftmentsh”, literally “air-person”, refers to petty traders, peddlers, beggars and paupers. The word appeared for the first time in Yiddish literature in the 1860s and began to be used by economists and statisticians in the 1880s-1890s. The case of the luftmentsh is particularly i...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association Œconomia
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Œconomia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/12934 |
| _version_ | 1797960544446054400 |
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| author | Nicolas Vallois Sarah Imhoff |
| author_facet | Nicolas Vallois Sarah Imhoff |
| author_sort | Nicolas Vallois |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Yiddish word “luftmentsh”, literally “air-person”, refers to petty traders, peddlers, beggars and paupers. The word appeared for the first time in Yiddish literature in the 1860s and began to be used by economists and statisticians in the 1880s-1890s. The case of the luftmentsh is particularly interesting because of the interplay of religion, gender, antisemitism, and economics. This article focuses on the term luftmentsh in economic and statistical discourse in the first part of the twentieth century as a case study of the fundamental intertwining of economics and literature. We characterize the luftmentsh as an “economic character”, i.e. as an economic-statistical category associated with a complex imaginary borrowed from Yiddish literature. We show that this economic character popularized an influential yet ambivalent image of Jewish masculinity at work, as well as offering a way to reconsider antisemitism in the history of economic thought. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:48:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9bc39742dcbe474eb8b02aa375f73a3f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2113-5207 2269-8450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:48:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Association Œconomia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Œconomia |
| spelling | doaj.art-9bc39742dcbe474eb8b02aa375f73a3f2023-01-05T13:26:08ZengAssociation ŒconomiaŒconomia2113-52072269-84502022-06-0112227531410.4000/oeconomia.12934“Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic CharacterNicolas ValloisSarah ImhoffThe Yiddish word “luftmentsh”, literally “air-person”, refers to petty traders, peddlers, beggars and paupers. The word appeared for the first time in Yiddish literature in the 1860s and began to be used by economists and statisticians in the 1880s-1890s. The case of the luftmentsh is particularly interesting because of the interplay of religion, gender, antisemitism, and economics. This article focuses on the term luftmentsh in economic and statistical discourse in the first part of the twentieth century as a case study of the fundamental intertwining of economics and literature. We characterize the luftmentsh as an “economic character”, i.e. as an economic-statistical category associated with a complex imaginary borrowed from Yiddish literature. We show that this economic character popularized an influential yet ambivalent image of Jewish masculinity at work, as well as offering a way to reconsider antisemitism in the history of economic thought.http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/12934jewish historyliteratureeconomic characterantisemitism |
| spellingShingle | Nicolas Vallois Sarah Imhoff “Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character Œconomia jewish history literature economic character antisemitism |
| title | “Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character |
| title_full | “Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character |
| title_fullStr | “Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character |
| title_short | “Floating Jews”—The luftmentsh as an Economic Character |
| title_sort | floating jews the luftmentsh as an economic character |
| topic | jewish history literature economic character antisemitism |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/oeconomia/12934 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicolasvallois floatingjewstheluftmentshasaneconomiccharacter AT sarahimhoff floatingjewstheluftmentshasaneconomiccharacter |