David Bergelson

David Bergelson PDF Author: Joseph Sherman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351195212
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
"Among the finest prose stylists in Yiddish literature, David Bergelson (1884-1952) was caught up in many of the twentieth century's most defining events. In 1909 he emerged as a pioneer of modernist prose, observing the slow decay of the Tsarist empire. In 1917 he welcomed the Revolution, but the bloodshed of the ensuing Civil War and the dogmatism of the Bolsheviks drove him to emigration. For more than a decade (1921-1934), he lived in Weimar Germany, travelling extensively in Europe and the United States. Shocked by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, disheartened by the decline of Yiddish culture in the West, and inspired by Soviet promises to create a Jewish republic, Bergelson became a Communist sympathiser and moved towards socialist realism. Returning to the Soviet Union after Hitler's rise to power, Bergelson flourished in a state-sponsored cultural environment in which his work was widely read both in Yiddish and in Russian translation. After Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Bergelson became a prominent member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, writing extensively about the Holocaust. In the paranoia of the Cold War years, the Stalinist regime accused him of anti-Soviet activities and, after a secret military trial he was executed on 12 August 1952, his 68th birthday. For years, critics have argued that Bergelson produced his best work before the Revolution, and afterwards largely wrote Communist propaganda. David Bergelson: From Modernism to Socialist Realism challenges this view by examining Bergelson's entire oeuvre. The book argues that Bergelson continually reinvented himself as a writer, experimenting with style and narrative technique even under the most severe restrictions of Party dogma. With contributions from an international team of Bergelson experts, the volume offers a full-length biography, the first complete bibliography of Bergelson's work, translations of two of his most influential programmatic articles, and a range of essays dealing with all periods of the writer's life. With the contributions: Joseph Sherman- David Bergelson (1884-1952): A Biography Lev Bergelson- Memories of My Father: The Early Years (1918-1934) Daniela Mantovan- Language and Style in Nokh alemen (1913): Bergelson's Debt to Flaubert Kerstin Hoge- For Children and Adults Alike: Reading Bergelson's 'Children's Stories' (1914-1919) as Narratives of Identity Formation Seth L. Wolitz- Yoysef Shor (1922): Between Two Worlds Sasha Senderovich- In Search of Readership: Bergelson Among the Refugees (1928) Mikhail Krutikov- Narrating the Revolution: From 'Tsugvintn' (1922) to Mides-hadin (1929) Ellen Kellman- Uneasy Patronage: Bergelson's Years at Forverts (1922-1926) Gennady Estraikh- David Bergelson in and on America (1929-1949) Ber Boris Kotlerman- 'Why I am in Favour of Birobidzhan': Bergelson's Fateful Decision (1932) Harriet Murav- Memory and Monument in Baym Dnyepr (1932-1940) David Shneer- From Mourning to Vengeance: Bergelson's Holocaust Journalism (1941-1945) Jeffrey Veidlinger- 'Du lebst, mayn folk': Bergelson's Play Prints Ruveni in Historical Context (1944-1947) Joseph Sherman- 'Jewish Nationalism' in Bergelson's Last Book (1947) Roberta Saltzman- A Bibliography of David Bergelson's Work in Yiddish and English David Bergelson- Appendix A. Belles-lettres and the Social Order (1919) David Bergelson- Appendix B. Three Centres (Characteristics) (1926)"

David Bergelson

David Bergelson PDF Author: Joseph Sherman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351195212
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 408

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Among the finest prose stylists in Yiddish literature, David Bergelson (1884-1952) was caught up in many of the twentieth century's most defining events. In 1909 he emerged as a pioneer of modernist prose, observing the slow decay of the Tsarist empire. In 1917 he welcomed the Revolution, but the bloodshed of the ensuing Civil War and the dogmatism of the Bolsheviks drove him to emigration. For more than a decade (1921-1934), he lived in Weimar Germany, travelling extensively in Europe and the United States. Shocked by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, disheartened by the decline of Yiddish culture in the West, and inspired by Soviet promises to create a Jewish republic, Bergelson became a Communist sympathiser and moved towards socialist realism. Returning to the Soviet Union after Hitler's rise to power, Bergelson flourished in a state-sponsored cultural environment in which his work was widely read both in Yiddish and in Russian translation. After Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Bergelson became a prominent member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, writing extensively about the Holocaust. In the paranoia of the Cold War years, the Stalinist regime accused him of anti-Soviet activities and, after a secret military trial he was executed on 12 August 1952, his 68th birthday. For years, critics have argued that Bergelson produced his best work before the Revolution, and afterwards largely wrote Communist propaganda. David Bergelson: From Modernism to Socialist Realism challenges this view by examining Bergelson's entire oeuvre. The book argues that Bergelson continually reinvented himself as a writer, experimenting with style and narrative technique even under the most severe restrictions of Party dogma. With contributions from an international team of Bergelson experts, the volume offers a full-length biography, the first complete bibliography of Bergelson's work, translations of two of his most influential programmatic articles, and a range of essays dealing with all periods of the writer's life. With the contributions: Joseph Sherman- David Bergelson (1884-1952): A Biography Lev Bergelson- Memories of My Father: The Early Years (1918-1934) Daniela Mantovan- Language and Style in Nokh alemen (1913): Bergelson's Debt to Flaubert Kerstin Hoge- For Children and Adults Alike: Reading Bergelson's 'Children's Stories' (1914-1919) as Narratives of Identity Formation Seth L. Wolitz- Yoysef Shor (1922): Between Two Worlds Sasha Senderovich- In Search of Readership: Bergelson Among the Refugees (1928) Mikhail Krutikov- Narrating the Revolution: From 'Tsugvintn' (1922) to Mides-hadin (1929) Ellen Kellman- Uneasy Patronage: Bergelson's Years at Forverts (1922-1926) Gennady Estraikh- David Bergelson in and on America (1929-1949) Ber Boris Kotlerman- 'Why I am in Favour of Birobidzhan': Bergelson's Fateful Decision (1932) Harriet Murav- Memory and Monument in Baym Dnyepr (1932-1940) David Shneer- From Mourning to Vengeance: Bergelson's Holocaust Journalism (1941-1945) Jeffrey Veidlinger- 'Du lebst, mayn folk': Bergelson's Play Prints Ruveni in Historical Context (1944-1947) Joseph Sherman- 'Jewish Nationalism' in Bergelson's Last Book (1947) Roberta Saltzman- A Bibliography of David Bergelson's Work in Yiddish and English David Bergelson- Appendix A. Belles-lettres and the Social Order (1919) David Bergelson- Appendix B. Three Centres (Characteristics) (1926)"

David Bergelson's Strange New World

David Bergelson's Strange New World PDF Author: Harriet Murav
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253036925
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
David Bergelson (1884–1952) emerged as a major literary figure who wrote in Yiddish before WWI. He was one of the founders of the Kiev Kultur-Lige and his work was at the center of the Yiddish-speaking world of the time. He was well known for creating characters who often felt the painful after-effects of the past and the clumsiness of bodies stumbling through the actions of daily life as their familiar worlds crumbled around them. In this contemporary assessment of Bergelson and his fiction, Harriet Murav focuses on untimeliness, anachronism, and warped temporality as an emotional, sensory, existential, and historical background to Bergleson's work and world. Murav grapples with the great modern theorists of time and memory, especially Henri Bergson, Sigmund Freud, and Walter Benjamin, to present Bergelson as an integral part of the philosophical and artistic experiments, political and technological changes, and cultural context of Russian and Yiddish modernism that marked his age. As a comparative and interdisciplinary study of Yiddish literature and Jewish culture, this work adds a new, ethnic dimension to understandings of the turbulent birth of modernism.

The Stories of David Bergelson

The Stories of David Bergelson PDF Author:
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
ISBN: 9780815604020
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
The writings of David Bergelson—virtually unknown to readers in the United States—are now available in this exciting collection. Composed of two short stories and a novella, this volume brings to life Bergelson's rich, elegiac prose. Golda Werman's highly literate translation perfectly captures his elusive literary style. Bergelson's writings evoke the declining world of small-town Eastern European Jews. His world captures the dreariness of the uncommitted life. His characters are cast adrift in a society whose traditions are coming unhinged by powerful modernist forces. In her Introduction Werman offers readers an engaging and tragic portrait of Bergelson, who was arrested on orders from Stalin and died in a prison camp in 1952.

David Bergelson's Strange New World

David Bergelson's Strange New World PDF Author: Harriet Murav
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253036941
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
David Bergelson (1884–1952) emerged as a major literary figure who wrote in Yiddish before WWI. He was one of the founders of the Kiev Kultur-Lige and his work was at the center of the Yiddish-speaking world of the time. He was well known for creating characters who often felt the painful after-effects of the past and the clumsiness of bodies stumbling through the actions of daily life as their familiar worlds crumbled around them. In this contemporary assessment of Bergelson and his fiction, Harriet Murav focuses on untimeliness, anachronism, and warped temporality as an emotional, sensory, existential, and historical background to Bergleson's work and world. Murav grapples with the great modern theorists of time and memory, especially Henri Bergson, Sigmund Freud, and Walter Benjamin, to present Bergelson as an integral part of the philosophical and artistic experiments, political and technological changes, and cultural context of Russian and Yiddish modernism that marked his age. As a comparative and interdisciplinary study of Yiddish literature and Jewish culture, this work adds a new, ethnic dimension to understandings of the turbulent birth of modernism.

Judgment

Judgment PDF Author: David Bergelson
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810135922
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Never before available in English, Judgment is a work of startling power by David Bergelson, the most celebrated Yiddish prose writer of his era. Originally published in 1929 and set in 1920 during the Russian civil war, Judgment traces the death of the shtetl and the birth of the “new, harsher world” created by the 1917 revolution. Jews and non-Jews smuggle people, goods, and anti-Bolshevik literature back and forth across the new political border. Filipov acts as the arbiter of "judgment" to prisoners in a Bolshevik outpost, who include Spivak, a counterrevolutionary; Lemberger, a pious and wealthy Jew; a seductive woman referred to as "the blonde"; and a memorable cast of smugglers and criminals. Ordinary people, depicted in a grotesque and modernist style—comparable to Isaac Babel’s Red Cavalry—confront the overwhelming forces of history, whose ultimate outcome remains unknown.

The End of Everything

The End of Everything PDF Author: David Bergelson
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1480440817
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
In this powerful novel set in Tsarist Russia, a young Jewish woman forced into a marriage of convenience descends into emotional turmoil. Originally published in 1913, and titled When All Is Said and Done in previous translations, The End of Everything is one of the great novels of the twentieth century. Considered David Bergelson’s masterpiece, it was written in Yiddish and until now has been unavailable in a complete and accurate English translation. This version by acclaimed translator Joseph Sherman finally brings the novel to a wide English-speaking audience. Bergelson depicts the lives of upwardly mobile, self-aware nouveaux riche Jews in the waning years of the Russian Empire. The central character, Mirel Hurvits, is an educated, beautiful woman who embodies the conflict between tradition and progress, aristocracy and enterprise. A forced marriage of convenience results in Mirel’s emotional disintegration and provokes a confrontation with the expectations of her pious family and with Jewish tradition. In a unique prose style of unsurpassable range and beauty, Bergelson reduces language to its bare essentials, punctuated by silences that heighten the sense of alienation in the story.

The Shtetl

The Shtetl PDF Author: Steven T. Katz
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814748317
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Dating from the sixteenth century, there were hundreds of shtetls—Jewish settlements—in Eastern Europe that were home to a large and compact population that differed from their gentile, mostly peasant neighbors in religion, occupation, language, and culture. The shtetls were different in important respects from previous types of Jewish settlements in the Diaspora in that Jews had rarely formed a majority in the towns in which they lived. This was not true of the shtetl, where Jews sometimes comprised 80% or more of the population. While the shtetl began to decline during the course of the nineteenth century, it was the Holocaust which finally destroyed it. During the last thirty years the shtetl has attracted a growing amount of scholarly attention, though gross generalizations and romanticized nostalgia continue to affect how the topic is treated. This volume takes a new look at this most important facet of East European Jewish life. It helps to correct the notion that the shtetl was an entirely Jewish world and shows the ways in which the Jews of the shtetl interacted both with their co-religionists and with their gentile neighbors. The volume includes chapters on the history of the shtetl, its myths and realities, politics, gender dynamics, how the shtetl has been (mis)represented in literature, and the changes brought about by World War I and the Holocaust, among others. Contributors: Samuel Kassow, Gershon David Hundert, Immanuel Etkes, Nehemia Polen, Henry Abramson, Konrad Zielinski, Jeremy Dauber, Israel Bartel, Naomi Seidman, Mikhail Krutikov, Arnold J. Band, Katarzyna Wieclawska, Yehunda Bauer, and Elie Wiesel. This is the first book published in the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies Series.

The Encyclopedia of the Novel

The Encyclopedia of the Novel PDF Author: Peter Melville Logan
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111877907X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 803

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Book Description
Now available in a single volume paperback, this advanced reference resource for the novel and novel theory offers authoritative accounts of the history, terminology, and genre of the novel, in over 140 articles of 500-7,000 words. Entries explore the history and tradition of the novel in different areas of the world; formal elements of the novel (story, plot, character, narrator); technical aspects of the genre (such as realism, narrative structure and style); subgenres, including the bildungsroman and the graphic novel; theoretical problems, such as definitions of the novel; book history; and the novel's relationship to other arts and disciplines. The Encyclopedia is arranged in A-Z format and features entries from an international cast of over 140 scholars, overseen by an advisory board of 37 leading specialists in the field, making this the most authoritative reference resource available on the novel. This essential reference, now available in an easy-to-use, fully indexed single volume paperback, will be a vital addition to the libraries of literature students and scholars everywhere.

How the Soviet Jew Was Made

How the Soviet Jew Was Made PDF Author: Sasha Senderovich
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674238192
Category : HISTORY
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
In post-1917 Russian and Yiddish literature, films, and reportage, Sasha Senderovich finds a new cultural figure: the Soviet Jew. Suddenly mobile after more than a century of restrictions under the tsars, Jewish authors created characters who traversed space and history, carrying with them the dislodged practices and archetypes of a lost world.

Writers in Yiddish

Writers in Yiddish PDF Author: Joseph Sherman
Publisher: Dictionary of Literary Biograp
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
"Essays on the history of modern Yiddish literature reflect the history of modern Jewry since the same historical, ideological and sociocultural forces shaped both. Provides information on the development of Yiddish, the creation of Judaized versions of popular medieval romances, verse epics and prose narratives, the impact of the religious revival known as Hasidism, modern Yiddish culture, the decade before World War I, and the post-Holocaust era"--OCLC.