In a Maelstrom
The History of Russian-Jewish Prose, 1860–1940
Translated by János Boris
The first concise history of Russian-Jewish
literary prose, this book discusses Russian-Jewish literarature
in four periods, analyzing the turning points (1881–82,
1897, 1917) and proposing that the selected epoch (1860–1940)
represents a special strand that was unfairly left out
of both Russian and Jewish national literatures. Based
on theoretical sources on the subject, the book establishes
the criteria of dual cultural affiliation, and in a
survey of Russian-Jewish literature presents the pitfalls
of assimilation and discusses different forms of anti-Semitism.
After showing the oeuvre of 18 representative authors
as a whole, the book analyzes a number of characteristic
novels and short stories in terms of contemporary literary
studies. Many texts discussed have not been reprinted
since their first publication. The material offers indispensable
information not only for comparative and literary studies
but for multicultural, historical, ethnographic, Judaist,
religious and linguistic investigations as well.
Contents: Preface;
The Concept of Russian-Jewish Literature and its Ambiguities;
The History of Russian Jewish Prose (1860–1940);
I. “Turbulent Times” —
The Utopia of Assimilation; Osip RABINOVICH; Lev
LEVANDA; Grigory BOGROV; Yakov ROMBRO; II.
“In a Maelstrom” — After the Pogroms;
Mordekhai BEN-AMI; NAUMOV-KOGAN; Sergei YAROSHEVSKY;
III. “At a Crossroads” —
Choosing Paths; Semyon AN-SKY; Aleksandr KIPEN;
David AIZMAN; Semyon YUSHKEVICH; IV.
“Motherland” and “Cemetery”
— Climax and Endgame; Isaac BABEL; Lev LUNTS;
Andrei SOBOL; Semyon HEKHT; Mikhail KOZAKOV; Vladimir
JABOTINSKY; Friedrich GORENSTEIN; V.
A Pattern of Narrative in Jewish Assimilation Literature.
The Child’s Eye View — Isaac Babel
in a Russian-Jewish, American and European Literary
Context. A Comparative Conclusion; Biographies
of Authors; Appendix; Bibliography; Index
Zsuzsa Hetényi is Professor
at the Institute for Slavic Studies, ELTE University,
Budapest, and translator (Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
Award for translation, 2002). With 180 articles in six
languages to her credit, she has also authored a monograph
study on Biblical and messianic motifs in Babel's Red
Cavalry (1991) and edited and co-authored the History
of the Russian Literature (I–II., 1997–2002).
Her main field of interest is 20th century Russian Prose.
Hetényi has lectured and given conference papers
in Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Great Britain,
Italy, Israel, Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the USA. Her Örvényben:
Az orosz-zsidó próza története
[In a Maelstrom. The history of the Russian-Jewish literature],
which included a one volume anthology in her own translation,
was published in 2000. Her present monograph is an extended
and revised English translation of this book.
"A major study of this fascinating
chapter in the intellectual and cultural history of
the Jews in Russia. the significance of this breakthrough
in scholarship is that it takes a post-1989 perspective
on basic issues of Jewish identity, assimilation, and
antisemitism with a new freedom and a new discovery
of texts that were previously ignored or inaccessible.
Moreover, Hetényi's interest is that of a comparativist
studying a fascinating case of cultural cross-fertilization,
a literature that wad both Russian and Jewish at the
same time." - Slavic Review
"The book takes its aphoristic title
from Sergei Yaroshevsky's tale "V omute" (1883;
omut means "maelstrom" or "whirlpool").
Hetényi's title calls to mind not only the Jewish
condition in Russia but also the oxymoronic Russian
saying "v tikhom omute cherti vodiatsia" (literally,
"in a calm maelstrom petty demons dwell")."
- East European Jewish Affairs
"The author did an impressive amount of research
and presents the work of 18 writers, most of whom will
be unfamiliar to readers in the US. In this respect,
the book performs a valuable service that earns it a
place in every Jewish library and every scholarly library.
The essay on narrative patterns in 'Jewish assimilation
literature' is also worthwhile. A decidedly useful study.
Summing up: recommended." - Choice
"Hetényi's Studie nimmt an einer zunehmend
intensiveren Kommunikation teil, die von Wissenchaftlern
aus Amerika, Europa, Israel und Russland geprägt
wird. Den Ausgangspunkt ihrer Analysen bildet die Frage
nach Identität mit den zentralen Kategorien von
Religion, Nation und Kultur. Wenngleich das Buch die
Dichotomie von Russisch versus Jüdisch perpetuiert,
ist es reich an Details, an Verweisen auf motivgeschichtliche
Zusammenhänge und Traditionen. Das gründlich
recherchierte Material bietet eine guten Überblick
und einführung in die Geschichte des russisch-jüdischen
Literatur und thematisiert Fragen nach Zugehörigkeit,
deren Relevanz sich insbesondere in den 1990er Jahren
erneut manifestierte." - Judaica, Beiträge
zum Verstehen des Judentums
2008
332 pages
ISBN 978-963-7326-91-2 cloth $45.00 / €31.95 /
£30.00
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