Oy, My Buenos Aires: Jewish Immigrants and the Creation of Argentine National Identity

173 Pages·2013·11.053 MB·English

by  Mollie Lewis Nouwen

Jewish Studies | Latin America | History
N
Between 1905 and 1930, more than one
o
“A dynamic and creative rethinking of Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in the Oy, My Buenos Aires
u hundred thousand Jews left Central and Eastern
shaping of Argentine identities that demonstrates expertly, at the same time, the w
Europe to settle permanently in Argentina.
processes that made immigrant communities ‘Argentine.’” e
n This book explores how these Yiddish-speaking
—David M. K. Sheinin, Trent University, author of Consent of the Damned:
Ashkenazi immigrants helped to create a
Ordinary Argentinians in the Dirty War
new urban strain of the Argentine national
“By focusing on the lives of ordinary Jews in Buenos Aires in the early twentieth Jewish Immigrants and the creation
identity. Like other immigrants, Jews embraced
century, Mollie Lewis Nouwen’s pioneering work sheds new light on strategies of
of Argentine National Identity Buenos Aires and Argentina while keeping
social integration and the constant negotiation of individual and collective iden-
ethnic identities—they spoke and produced
tities. Oy, My Buenos Aires is a must read for anyone interested in the intersection
of identity, ethnicity, nationalism, and immigration in Latin America.” new literary works in their native Yiddish and
—Ranaan Rein, Elias Sourasky Professor of Latin American and Spanish continued Jewish cultural traditions brought
History, Tel Aviv University O from Europe, from food to holidays. The author
y
, examines Argentine Jewish literature, songs, and
“Nouwen assembles an impressive array of sources in Spanish and Yiddish,
M
newspapers, including advertisements, to focus
ranging from police records and censuses to cartoons, memoirs, songs, and plays,
y
to explore the Jewish immigrant experience in a city that became one of their on the intersection and shifting boundaries of
B
major destinations. The result is a splendid sociocultural history that illuminates u identity, ethnicity, nationalism, and integration.
e
the role of social class, gender, generation, and material culture in the forging n In addition to the interplay of national
of an Argentine Jewish identity through the interaction and mixing of ethnic, o
s and ethnic identities, Nouwen illuminates
porteño, and national elements.”
A the importance of gender roles, generation,
—Jose C. Moya, Barnard College, author of Cousins and Strangers: Spanish
i
r and class, as well as relationships between
Immigrants in Buenos Aires, 1850–1930 e
s Jews and non-Jews. She focuses on the daily
“As Mollie Lewis Nouwen ably describes, through their daily encounters
lives of ordinary Jews in Buenos Aires. Most
with other city dwellers, promotion of the cinema, leftist politics, enrichment
were working class, though some did rise to
of language and literature, creation of vibrant neighborhoods and café life, and
become middle-class professionals. Some Jews
even criminal interactions, Jews helped shape the emerging urban identity in
belonged to organizations that served the Jewish
Argentina. Using sources as diverse as Yiddish writings, dance programs, police
records, banquet menus, and plays, she evokes the lively melange of cultures and community, while others were more informally
experiences in early twentieth-century Buenos Aires.” linked to their ethnic group through their family
Mollie Lewis Nouwen is
—Sandra McGee Deutsch, University of Texas at El Paso, author of Crossing and friends. Jews were involved in leftist politics
assistant professor of history at
Borders, Claiming a Nation: A History of Argentine Jewish Women, 1880–1955
from anarchism to unionism, and they also
the University of South Alabama.
started Zionist organizations. By exploring the
diversity of Jewish experiences in Buenos Aires,
Nouwen shows how individuals articulated their
Jacket design by Karen Mazur
multiple identities, as well as how those identities
ISBN 978-0-8263-5350-4
Mollie Lewis Nouwen formed and overlapped.
University of New Mexico Press ËxHSKIMGy353504zv*:+:!:+:!
unmpress.com # 800-249-7737
Oy, My Buenos Aires
~

Oy, My Buenos Aires
Jewish Immigrants and the Creation of
Argentine National Identity
~
Mollie Lewis Nouwen
University of New Mexico Press \ Albuquerque
© 2013 by the University of New Mexico Press
All rights reserved. Published 2013
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5 6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nouwen, Mollie Lewis.
  Oy, My Buenos Aires : Jewish immigrants and the creation of Argentine national
identity / Mollie Lewis Nouwen.
       p. cm
  Includes bibliographical references and index.
    isbn 978-0-8263-5350-4 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8263-5351-1 (electronic)
1.  Jews—Argentina—History—20th century. 2.  Jews—Argentina—
Buenos Aires—History—20th century. 3.  Jews—Argentina—Social life
and customs. 4.  Jews—Argentina—Identity. 5.  Argentina—Ethnic relations.  
I. Title.
  F3021.J5N68 2013
  982’.004924—dc23
  2013008670
For my parents
~

Contents
~
Illustrations | ix
Acknowledgments
| xi
A Note on Translation and Transliteration
| xiv
Introduction
| 1
Chapter One
Argentina: A Land of Immigrants | 14
Chapter Two
From Colony to City: Jewish Immigrants, 1889–1930 | 24
Chapter Three

“And from a gringo I was transformed into a criollo”:
Deploying Markers of National Identity | 52
Chapter Four
Building the City, Forging the Nation:
Ethnic and National Spaces | 64
vii
viii contents
Chapter Five
From Stolen Textiles to Off-Track Betting:
Urban Crime and Disorder | 75
Chapter Six
Eating, Drinking, and Dancing: The Gendered and Generational
Nature of Social Lives | 90
Chapter Seven
Individual Lives: Helping Create the Porteño Identity | 107
Conclusion
| 121
Notes
| 125
Bibliography
| 140
Index
| 153
Illustrations
~
figures
1. Cartoon showing options for Jewish immigrants in Argentina | 24
2. A gaucho and his horse under an ombu tree in an ad for
Max Glücksmann’s record stores | 54
3. Advertisement for Max Glücksmann’s recording of the tango “Buenos
Aires,” picturing tango legend Carlos Gardel | 57
4. Advertisement for Jacobo Waiss’s Cafés y Tés Sión store | 61
5. “Shul Impression,” cartoon illustrating changes in religion and
traditional identities among Argentine Jews | 69
6. A man purchasing premade food from a dispenser at
an automat | 72
7. A man serving himself a drink at an automat, excited by the novelty
of the space | 72
8. A program for a dance and concert celebrating the twelfth anniversary
of the Unión Israelita “Bessarabia” | 97
9. “How Summer Is Enjoyed,” cartoon from Far Groys un Kleyn | 102
ix