The book is a compilation of essays based upon papers delivered at a centenary retrospective at 91亚色 in 2008 organized by the book鈥檚 editors, 91亚色 history Professor , and Kalman Weiser, Silber Family Professor of Modern Jewish Studies in the Departments of History and Humanities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Weiser says there were two major nationalist movements on the rise in the late-19th century among Jews. One, later known as Zionism, supported the creation of a Jewish nation-state in the area of Palestine; the other advocated the idea of diaspora nationalism, which argued that Jews constituted a nation and deserved recognition as such wherever they lived. This second one proposed that a geographical homeland wasn鈥檛 necessary and Jews 鈥� and other nationalities 鈥� could live as a nationality in multinational or multi-ethnic states. 鈥淭he Austro-Hungarian Empire was relatively liberal in comparison with the Russian Empire. It extended language rights to groups such as the Italians, the Poles etc. 鈥� so why couldn鈥檛 this apply to the Jews?鈥� he says.

The next question, continues Weiser, was if such rights were to be extended, what would be the official language of the Jews? There were two options聽鈥� Hebrew and Yiddish.

Left: Joshua Fogel

Weiser says that, at this time, the vast majority of Jews used Yiddish as their primary language, the language of commerce and everyday life. By contrast, he says, the speaking of Hebrew was far less common; it was the literary prestige language and the language of liturgy, but the spoken language of extremely few. He likens the relationship between the two to that between Latin and vernacular languages in Western Europe prior to the modern era.

He states that a leading Yiddish activist of the era, Nathan Birnbaum (who also coined the term Zionism), convened a group of Jewish artists, writers and intellectuals to debate the issues in Czernowitz, a multi-ethnic, urban centre, now in the Ukraine, with a politically and culturally active Jewish population. 鈥淭he 1908 Czernowitz conference was held to discuss the political status of Yiddish, to raise its prestige and legal status and consider the methods needed to standardize it and promote it,鈥� Weiser says. He claims the conference didn鈥檛 reach a clear resolution as the debate became bogged down in arguments over whether Yiddish was a national language or the national language of the Jews. He says it ended with a compromise, asserting that Yiddish is a national language.

Czernowitz at 100, the conference organized by Fogel and Weiser at 91亚色, assembled academics from across North America, Europe and Israel with the goal of assessing intellectually the original conference and considering the ramifications of it over the course of the subsequent century. It differed from the 1908 conference in several ways. Foremost, the agenda was different. While there were some debates, the goal was not to resurrect the fundamental argument. Participants primarily looked back at the 1908 conference with the critical eyes of scholarship and considered what had been achieved. They also spoke the lingua franca of English rather than Yiddish and, rather than artists and writers, the 2008 conference involved scholars. Weiser does note that the host cities have a lot in common 鈥撀燭oronto, like Czernowitz of 1908, is cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic and multilingual.

Right: Kalman Weiser

, which evolved from the conference, considers the successes and failures of the 1908 conference and reflects on what can be learned from Czernowitz to promote the harmonious coexistence of ethnocultural groups in multi-ethnic environments.

What did the attendees discuss and conclude? Weiser says they noted a complete reversal in language practice. Yiddish is used today for everyday life chiefly among Hasidic Jews while Hebrew, the holy language, has also become an everyday language for millions regardless of their religious beliefs or ethnic background. He says conference participants also considered what other nationalities could learn about their languages and national identities. Finally, they looked at what lessons could be learned from campaigns for national minority rights in multi-ethnic settings.

Though specializing in East Asian history,聽Fogel admits to a longstanding interest in Yiddish and Jewish history. 鈥淚ssues of language and identity in multi-ethnic contexts remain as relevant today as they were a century ago,"聽he says. "With the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, to say nothing of many other regional hot spots around the world, linguistic nationalism is still a vital force in the forging of identities.鈥�

Weiser鈥檚 forthcoming book, Jewish People, Yiddish Nation: Noah Prylucki and the Folkists in Poland (University of Toronto Press, 2010), deals with one of the participants in the 1908 Czernowitz conference, Prylucki. It focuses on the rise and fall of Yiddish culture and Jewish nationalism in Eastern Europe, including the 1908 Czernowitz conference.

Submitted by David Wallace, communications coordinator, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Interest in China is strong, and scholars and students alike continue to be intrigued by the country, whether viewing it through the lens of the past two or 2,000 years. That intrigue proved evident on Thursday, Jan. 28, when a record 110聽people crowded into a room in 91亚色 Lanes for the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) monthly Research Matters event.

The focus of聽the event was on China, and attendees were anxious to get insight from researchers on the country's history, culture and rising international prominence. To watch the presentations online or click through an edited version of the speakers' onscreen presentations, visit the聽Research Matters Web site.

Martin Singer (right), dean of LA&PS and a historian of China, opened the session and聽recalled how his own fascination with China began when he was an undergraduate student. Despite some skepticism from family and friends about the career prospects of specializing in such an area, Singer went on to pursue graduate studies in Chinese history at the University of Michigan. Before Singer became a professor at Montreal's Sir George Williams University in 1972, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau surprised Canadians with his journey to China and the relations he established. The PM's visit was quickly followed by a visit by聽US President Richard Nixon.聽These high-level delegations clearly indicated that China's importance was rapidly increasing on a global scale.

Though China and Canada were just beginning to develop a mutual understanding of one another in the 1970s, Singer noted, "91亚色 was a powerhouse of China-related activity at the time." He welcomed the continued commitment to sinology today, pointing to the tremendous wealth of expertise on China in LA&PS and across the University.

Joshua Fogel (right), Canada Research Chair in the History of Modern China聽in the Department of History, reached deep into the past to illuminate the historiography of a 2,000-year-old golden seal, originally given by Emperor Guangwu to an emissary from Japan in 57 CE聽鈥� the first known material object exchanged between China and Japan. It was unearthed in 1784 in a Japanese farmer's field and, since then, there has been much debate about its true nature and the implications of the characters inscribed on it.

Some scholars believe that the seal is authentic and holds great significance, while others claim that it is an outright forgery. Fogel is writing a book on the debate, which he hopes will shed some light on the true meaning of the seal and its implications.

Professor Lee Li of the School of Administrative Studies discussed why Chinese companies seem to enjoy a competitive advantage in world markets. His research looks beyond the commonly held belief and superficial claim that China's economic dominance originates simply in its low-cost labour. If low-cost labour was the key to such success, Li argued, then why aren't other developing economies experiencing the same advantage?

Li聽asserted that the advantage Chinese companies enjoy results from a number of interconnected factors, including cost-leadership; a diverse bundle of valuable resources; efficient production methods; a robust, domestic market demand; strong cultural and related industries; and a focus on developing partnerships with Western companies that enable them to learn and adopt various manufacturing, management and research-and-development innovations.

Right: Professor Lee Li discusses his research into China's competitive edge on the global stage

The two speakers following Li talked about their research on China in a much more experiential way. Both professors have deep ties and have developed long-term relationships with the country and its people.

David Lumsden, chair and undergraduate program director in the Department of Anthropology, spoke about the contingent nature of the research enterprise, the serendipitous opportunities that have led to his projects and how he came to be a China scholar. Lumsden was the master of Bethune College from 1983 to 1989 and credits his initial interest in the country to fellow scholar Rod Stewart and visiting international students. In 2006, he embarked upon a two-year sabbatical at Southwest University in Chongqing, China, where he taught graduate students and conducted research on the impact of Chinese reforms on peasants and migrant workers flooding into cities. Lumsden received the Great Wall Friendship Award, China's highest award for foreigners, in 2008.

Left: Professor David Lumsden

The final speaker was Professor Bernie Frolic of the Department of Political Science, director of the Asian Business & Management Program in the 91亚色 Centre for Asian Research and聽the Schulich School of Business. He also worked as first secretary, cultural, at the Canadian Embassy in China in the mid-1970s. Frolic discussed the subject of the book for which he is currently doing research: contemporary Canada-China relations. He detailed his difficulties in accessing information from government files and the restrictions placed on his ability to record what he had access to.

Left: Professor Bernie Frolic

Frolic noted the essentially consistent nature of Canada-China relations, regardless of political leadership in Ottawa, from the 1970s until 2005. Engagement between the two all but ended at this time and only recently have relations improved. One of the greatest challenges, he lamented, has been accessing information about the current government's relations with China. As a result, the best he could do with all of his research was to deliver an approximate depiction of relations. He noted, "I settled for an impressionistic painting rather than a photograph."

Republished courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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