From the outside looking in: the Yiddish poems of the Lithuanian South African poet David Fram (1903-1988)

ENThe poetry of the Lithuanian Yiddish poet, David Fram, makes a significant contribution to the understanding of a single immigrant's relocation in a specific time and place. Drawing on a rich store of memories of the familiar old country, the poems encompass the nature of Jewish migration from Eastern Europe. However, as the effects of migration remain sadly contemporary, both in South Africa and in a broader, global arena, this article argues for the poems' continued relevance. Where the particular may be used to leverage far-reaching insights, going beyond a single poet's experience may also highlight some outcomes and insights of uprooting and displacement for members of an outsider and minority community. Yiddish remained Fram's linguistic homeland, in which he could retain the richness of his culture, and record his responses to his new environment. With reference to my English translations of specific poems, the article reflects on the challenges of transition and acculturation, incorporating a cross-cultural dynamic, preserving a particular literary heritage in a new location.