Pub Date : 2020-11-03DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.02
Lilah Nethanel
Abstract:The article presents a forgotten manuscript of the first extensive critical evaluation of Y. H. Brenner's literary work, a complete dissertation written in French by Shmuel Homelsky-Sagiv (Kiev, 1892–Tel Aviv, 1966) and submitted to the Sorbonne University, Paris, in 1913. It was composed under the supervision of Nahum Slouschz (Smorgon, 1872–Tel Aviv, 1966). Homelsky's work on Brenner has hardly been mentioned in later research, due mainly to the publication of a shortened Hebrew version in the journal Hatsefirah following Brenner's death in 1921. This later version was assumed to be a mere translation of the earlier French dissertation, and the important differences between the two were ignored. No critical writing preceding Homelsky's 1913 dissertation either addressed Brenner's complete work or assessed its chronological development. In this article, I present the archival findings that led me to read Homelsky's French dissertation. I then discuss his pioneering attempt at a typology of the modern Jewish protagonist in Brenner's writings. In the second part of the article, I proceed to a detailed study of the context in which the dissertation was written in pre–World War I Paris. Homelsky's "French Brenner" is situated at a rare historical moment, disclosing important parts of the ideological maze from which the modern Jewish protagonist emerged. This is closely bound up with what I call "the other legacy" of Jewish-European modernism, adding new information regarding the provenance and conception of the Hebrew talush ("uprooted person").
{"title":"Brenner In French: A Forgotten Essay on Y. H. Brenner's Literary Work, Paris, 1913","authors":"Lilah Nethanel","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.02","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The article presents a forgotten manuscript of the first extensive critical evaluation of Y. H. Brenner's literary work, a complete dissertation written in French by Shmuel Homelsky-Sagiv (Kiev, 1892–Tel Aviv, 1966) and submitted to the Sorbonne University, Paris, in 1913. It was composed under the supervision of Nahum Slouschz (Smorgon, 1872–Tel Aviv, 1966). Homelsky's work on Brenner has hardly been mentioned in later research, due mainly to the publication of a shortened Hebrew version in the journal Hatsefirah following Brenner's death in 1921. This later version was assumed to be a mere translation of the earlier French dissertation, and the important differences between the two were ignored. No critical writing preceding Homelsky's 1913 dissertation either addressed Brenner's complete work or assessed its chronological development. In this article, I present the archival findings that led me to read Homelsky's French dissertation. I then discuss his pioneering attempt at a typology of the modern Jewish protagonist in Brenner's writings. In the second part of the article, I proceed to a detailed study of the context in which the dissertation was written in pre–World War I Paris. Homelsky's \"French Brenner\" is situated at a rare historical moment, disclosing important parts of the ideological maze from which the modern Jewish protagonist emerged. This is closely bound up with what I call \"the other legacy\" of Jewish-European modernism, adding new information regarding the provenance and conception of the Hebrew talush (\"uprooted person\").","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76781693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-03DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.01
E. James, Sean Burt
Abstract:While the Hebrew Bible may lack a sustained reflection on the nature of literary art, some biblical poems nevertheless appear to be self-conscious of their own literary production. This article investigates how the texts themselves conceptualize the nature and potential of the aesthetic word. One situation in which self-consciousness of aesthetic production is evident is use of the verb dalet-mem-heh ("to make a likeness") in Song of Songs, Lamentations, and prophetic poetry. This essay explores how poets self-consciously used poetic language to create verbal images that have the ability to escape rhetorical and theological purposes. These images can evoke surprising, even paradoxical experiences, such as spaces of beauty and consolation in the midst of terror and destruction. These passages, along with other prophetic texts that characterize and critique poetry, reveal that some ancient Israelite poets already recognized that poetry can function not just as mere ornament or illustration but as a creative act that retains a productive power all its own.
{"title":"\"What Kind of Likeness?\": The Aesthetic Impulse in Biblical Poetry","authors":"E. James, Sean Burt","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.01","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:While the Hebrew Bible may lack a sustained reflection on the nature of literary art, some biblical poems nevertheless appear to be self-conscious of their own literary production. This article investigates how the texts themselves conceptualize the nature and potential of the aesthetic word. One situation in which self-consciousness of aesthetic production is evident is use of the verb dalet-mem-heh (\"to make a likeness\") in Song of Songs, Lamentations, and prophetic poetry. This essay explores how poets self-consciously used poetic language to create verbal images that have the ability to escape rhetorical and theological purposes. These images can evoke surprising, even paradoxical experiences, such as spaces of beauty and consolation in the midst of terror and destruction. These passages, along with other prophetic texts that characterize and critique poetry, reveal that some ancient Israelite poets already recognized that poetry can function not just as mere ornament or illustration but as a creative act that retains a productive power all its own.","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78050005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-03DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.05
Hacohen-Bick
Abstract:This article seeks to rectify two omissions with regard to the poetry of Yona Wallach—the discussion of her later poetry in particular and the discussion of theology in her poems in general—by reading these two aspects side by side. I argue that the most significant change between Wallach's early and later poetry involves a prosodic turn. While the early poems are short and many of them portray surrealistic figures and colorful images, the later poems are characterized either by extreme directness, or by their length. In terms of theology, although there are extensive discussions of mysticism in Wallach's poetry, they often contribute to the building of an "author's name" rather than a specific understanding of her poetry and its poetics. Consequently, I propose a comprehensive look at her later poetry and discuss how form and content are integrated in these works. I will also examine how the approach of this central poet in Israeli culture to questions of secularization and religiosity illuminates the processes of secularization versus increased religiosity in Israel.
{"title":"\"I Want a River / No Small Temple\": Poetics and Theology in the Later Poetry of Yona Wallach","authors":"Hacohen-Bick","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.05","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article seeks to rectify two omissions with regard to the poetry of Yona Wallach—the discussion of her later poetry in particular and the discussion of theology in her poems in general—by reading these two aspects side by side. I argue that the most significant change between Wallach's early and later poetry involves a prosodic turn. While the early poems are short and many of them portray surrealistic figures and colorful images, the later poems are characterized either by extreme directness, or by their length. In terms of theology, although there are extensive discussions of mysticism in Wallach's poetry, they often contribute to the building of an \"author's name\" rather than a specific understanding of her poetry and its poetics. Consequently, I propose a comprehensive look at her later poetry and discuss how form and content are integrated in these works. I will also examine how the approach of this central poet in Israeli culture to questions of secularization and religiosity illuminates the processes of secularization versus increased religiosity in Israel.","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89166622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-11-03DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.04
David Stromberg
Abstract:Isaac Bashevis Singer's work has often been identified with demons, but his use of the Yeytser-hore as narrator may be more than a simple preoccupation with the realm of evil. Rather than merely portraying evil in literature, Singer was working within a mystical tradition that harnessed what it saw as the powers of evil to do good in the world. This aspect of Singer's work has been largely underdiscussed and underresearched. A fuller consideration involves delving into the sources of his inspiration—especially religious and kabbalistic works—to grasp not only the images or motifs he was pulling from but also the spiritual understandings that he found and applied to his literary practice. This article explores Singer's spiritual framework, discussing his use of demons in light of a handwritten note found in the Singer Papers in Austin, Texas. This note prompts an investigation into some of the ways in which his spiritual understandings influenced the themes, strategies, and images found in his stories.
{"title":"The Exorcist: The Mystical Storytelling of Isaac Bashevis Singer","authors":"David Stromberg","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.38.1.04","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Isaac Bashevis Singer's work has often been identified with demons, but his use of the Yeytser-hore as narrator may be more than a simple preoccupation with the realm of evil. Rather than merely portraying evil in literature, Singer was working within a mystical tradition that harnessed what it saw as the powers of evil to do good in the world. This aspect of Singer's work has been largely underdiscussed and underresearched. A fuller consideration involves delving into the sources of his inspiration—especially religious and kabbalistic works—to grasp not only the images or motifs he was pulling from but also the spiritual understandings that he found and applied to his literary practice. This article explores Singer's spiritual framework, discussing his use of demons in light of a handwritten note found in the Singer Papers in Austin, Texas. This note prompts an investigation into some of the ways in which his spiritual understandings influenced the themes, strategies, and images found in his stories.","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77412667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-16DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.06
A. Hoffman
{"title":"Reverie and Reading: Encounters with Modern Jewish Culture in the Work of Alan Mintz","authors":"A. Hoffman","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.06","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74202768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-16DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.17
Naomi Brenner
Abstract:In the years following World War II, representations of the Holocaust in Hebrew literature appeared primarily in memoirs, documentary texts, and memorial tomes, not in high literary works. Drawing on Alan Mintz's analysis of S. Y. Agnon's Buczacz stories, this article examines Hebrew translations from Yiddish literature in the 1940s and 1950s as a form of literary memorialization. Focusing on translations of David Bergelson's Yiddish stories, it traces how editors and translators carefully chose Yiddish literary texts to commemorate European Jewish life rather than recount Nazi atrocities. This literary mode of memorialization was quickly extended beyond the Holocaust to other catastrophes; namely, Stalin's crackdown on Soviet Jewish culture in the late 1940s.
摘要:在第二次世界大战后的几年里，希伯来文学中对大屠杀的描述主要出现在回忆录、纪实文本和纪念册中，而不是在高级文学作品中。本文借鉴Alan Mintz对S. Y. Agnon的Buczacz故事的分析，考察了20世纪40年代和50年代意第绪语文学的希伯来语翻译作为文学纪念的一种形式。本书聚焦于大卫·伯格尔森(David Bergelson)意第绪语故事的翻译，追溯了编辑和译者如何精心选择意第绪语文学文本来纪念欧洲犹太人的生活，而不是讲述纳粹暴行。这种文学的纪念方式很快从大屠杀扩展到其他灾难;即斯大林在20世纪40年代末对苏联犹太文化的镇压。
{"title":"David Bergelson in Hebrew: Translation as Literary Memorialization","authors":"Naomi Brenner","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.17","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In the years following World War II, representations of the Holocaust in Hebrew literature appeared primarily in memoirs, documentary texts, and memorial tomes, not in high literary works. Drawing on Alan Mintz's analysis of S. Y. Agnon's Buczacz stories, this article examines Hebrew translations from Yiddish literature in the 1940s and 1950s as a form of literary memorialization. Focusing on translations of David Bergelson's Yiddish stories, it traces how editors and translators carefully chose Yiddish literary texts to commemorate European Jewish life rather than recount Nazi atrocities. This literary mode of memorialization was quickly extended beyond the Holocaust to other catastrophes; namely, Stalin's crackdown on Soviet Jewish culture in the late 1940s.","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85403996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-16DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.19
Yael Halevi-Wise
Abstract:Regardless of their specific professional identities as doctors, engineers, teachers or supervisors of various sorts, Yehoshua's characters tend to function as repairmen or repairwomen, tasked first with fixing themselves and then their families and nation through the social mosaic that Yehoshua builds in his novels. In an effort to overcome a crisis in their private lives, Yehoshua's characters learn to establish more attentive relationships not only within their close family circles but also in their workplaces, where they come into contact with representatives of diverse ethnicities, ages, ideologies, and religions. Following the tradition of the bildungsroman, the vocational pursuits of Yehoshua's characters are intertwined with family responsibilities and a search for love. However, by turning professional responsibilities into a higher calling, Yehoshua also engages with questions of national development in a manner that reconfigures the vocational mission of the prophets.
{"title":"A. B. Yehoshua and the Novel of Vocation","authors":"Yael Halevi-Wise","doi":"10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.19","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.19","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Regardless of their specific professional identities as doctors, engineers, teachers or supervisors of various sorts, Yehoshua's characters tend to function as repairmen or repairwomen, tasked first with fixing themselves and then their families and nation through the social mosaic that Yehoshua builds in his novels. In an effort to overcome a crisis in their private lives, Yehoshua's characters learn to establish more attentive relationships not only within their close family circles but also in their workplaces, where they come into contact with representatives of diverse ethnicities, ages, ideologies, and religions. Following the tradition of the bildungsroman, the vocational pursuits of Yehoshua's characters are intertwined with family responsibilities and a search for love. However, by turning professional responsibilities into a higher calling, Yehoshua also engages with questions of national development in a manner that reconfigures the vocational mission of the prophets.","PeriodicalId":43444,"journal":{"name":"PROOFTEXTS-A JOURNAL OF JEWISH LITERARY HISTORY","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86299820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-16DOI: 10.2979/prooftexts.37.3.15
M. Arbell
Abstract:This paper takes its starting point from Alan Mintz's depiction of the connections between parenthood, arranged marriage, and moral values in a time of historical transition in S. Y. Agnon's late story, "In a Single Moment." In what follows, the author explores similar themes in Agnon's famous earlier novel, A Simple Story, which portrays the inevitable connection between the abolishment of moral order in Szybusz at the beginning of the twentieth century and the failure of parenthood, both on the level of the family and in the town as a whole. In the Hurvitz family, the moral and parental failure culminates in the arranged marriage and the eventual mental breakdown of the young protagonist Hirshl. The author suggests that the therapy that Hirshl undergoes at Dr. Langsam's sanatorium, which attracted much critical attention, serves to reestablish positive parenthood by reenacting the process of rearing a child from babyhood to adolescence, as well as by evoking the historical memory of moral order.
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