Ilan Stavans

Item Information

Title:
Ilan Stavans
Description:
Ilan Stavans, academic and writer, was interviewed by Lesley Yalen on May 31, 2013 in Amherst, MA. Ilan Stavans is an Amherst College professor, a public intellectual, writer, and friend of the Yiddish Book Center. His family came from Poland and Ukraine. His grandparents emigrated from there to Mexico, where Ilan grew up. He goes into his identity struggles; learning to speak Yiddish and Spanish, and not feeling 100% sure of how to be Mexican and Jewish. He speaks about his books: "Golemito", a children's book, and "El Iluminado", a graphic novel. He hopes to transmit to his kids and what his parents transmitted to him; an obligation to think. On his Jewish identity today, he feels committed, but ambivalent about God. His purpose as a writer is to reach one person and have them feel changed. To learn more about the Wexler Oral History Project, visit: http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story Ilan Stavans Oral History Interview, interviewed by Lesley Yalen, Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, Yiddish Book Center, Karmazin Recording Studio, May 31, 2013. Video recording, https://archive.org/details/IlanStavans31may2013YiddishBookCenter ([date accessed])
Creator:
Yiddish Book Center (Chad)
Date:
May 31, 2013
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
Yiddish Book Center
Collection (local):
Oral Histories
Subjects:
Yiddish Book Center
National Yiddish Book Center
Wexler Oral History Project
Nybc
Ybc
Yiddish
Jewish culture
Advice
Family history
Stories about ancestors
Childhood
Jewish Identity
Yiddish language
Immigration
Migration
Other languages
Literature
Career and Professional Life
Education
United States
Latin America
Food and culinary traditions
Transmission
Anti-Semitism
Jewish community
Travel
Mexico City
Mexico
Israel
Nowe Brodno
Poland
Frida Kahlo
Irving Howe
Barry Muser
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Mario Vargas Llosa
Bitakhon
Yiddishe Shule
Congregation B'nai Israel
Northampton
Massachusetts
Amherst College
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Bund
Conservative movement
Universidad Autonoma de Mexico
Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana
Xochimilco
Link to Item:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/interviews/woh-fi-0000427
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Language:
English