Proverbial Language and Literary Truth in the Work of Isaac Bashevis Singer

Abstract:This article looks at Isaac Bashevis Singer's use of proverbs in three short stories and focuses specifically on how, through these proverbs, the author evokes an aura of universal truth and ancient wisdom, thereby imbuing his stories with a sense of meaning or purpose. I begin by defining "proverb" and "proverbial language" and go on to illustrate how the proverbial language that so saturates Singer's work is central not only to his stated aim of pointing to "eternal truth," but also to bolstering his own standing as a kind of prophet—albeit one with a sense of irony (and humor) not usually associated with prophecy, and one who, perhaps even more uncharacteristically for a prophet, eschewed absolute notions of truth. This seeming paradox—the affirmation and simultaneous disavowal of eternal or universal truth—is, as I demonstrate, a defining characteristic of Singer's mode of storytelling.