The mythologization of the shtetl began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as Jewish writers, many of whom lived in urban areas or were influenced by the Jewish Enlightenment, used the shtetl as a way of exploring the tensions between Jewish tradition and Western modernity. The stories of Sholem Aleichem are a major example. After the Holocaust, the shtetl became a symbol of nostalgia and Jewish identity, especially among Jews in the United States. The shtetl was often depicted in an idealized way as a warm community of vibrant characters, absent political turmoil. The musical Fiddler on the Roof (1964, film adaptation 1971) offers key examples of both the tradition-modernity theme and, through its popularity and reception, the idealization of the shtetl in Jewish American culture.
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