A History Of Jewish Literature

This book examines the relationship between Jewish literature and the historical setting in which it was written. The types of literature analyzed in this study include ghost stories; Yiddish, Ukrainian, and Russian Jewish literature; plays; letters; poetry; even obituaries.

First published in 2007. This classic work explores the seminal early periods of Jewish history. The destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. by the army of Nebuchadnezzar marks a radical turning point in the life of the people of Jehovah, for then the history of the Hebrew state and monarchy ends, and the Jewish history, the records of experiences, not of a nation but of the scattered, oppressed remnants of the Jewish people, begins.

This is both a history of Jewish bilingualism and a plea for an end to the Hebrew-Yiddish quarrel over a single genuine Jewish language. Niger was the greatest Yiddish literary critic of his day. Contents: Introduction: Jewish Bilingualism, Then and Now; Latin and Hebrew, Italian and Yiddish; Greek and Chinese Bilingualism; Armenian and Welsh Bilingualism; Early Jewish Bilingualism: Hebrew and Aramaic; Literary Bilingualism; The Development of Early Hebrew-Yiddish Bilingualism; The Bilingual Literature of Jewish Mysticism, Morality, and Chasidism; The Bilingual Literature of the Jewish Enlightenment; Early Jewish Bilingualism in America; The Tshernovits Language Conference of 1908 and the Question of Jewish Bilingualism; Extremism and Bilingualism in the Zionist and Socialist Movements; The Influence of Soviet Russia and the Land of Israel on Jewish Bilingualism; Jewish Bilingualism: Traditions, Problems, Prospects.

Volume 1. The ancient period

Recent scholarship has brought to light the existence of a dynamic world of specifically Jewish forms of literature in the nineteenth century—fiction by Jews, about Jews, and often designed largely for Jews. This volume makes this material accessible to English speakers for the first time, offering a selection of Jewish fiction from France, Great Britain, and the German-speaking world. The stories are remarkably varied, ranging from historical fiction to sentimental romance, to social satire, but they all engage with key dilemmas including assimilation, national allegiance, and the position of women. Offering unique insights into the hopes and fears of Jews experiencing the dramatic impact of modernity, the literature collected in this book will provide compelling reading for all those interested in modern Jewish history and culture, whether general readers, students, or scholars.