Minorities in Modern Hebrew Literature

Minorities in Modern Hebrew Literature : A Survey

近現代ヘブライ文学におけるマイノリティ：概観

Doron B. Cohen, Ph.D.

ドロン・B・コヘン，Ph.D.

Summary

Along their history, Jews often found themselves in a minority situation, and their awareness of this fact was expressed in their writings, but in modern times Jews also experienced being a majority. However, even while being an ethnic minority, they had various groups of social minorities in their midst. The present article offers a survey of the attitude towards various kinds of minorities as expressed in Modern Hebrew literature, along a division to three periods: (1) in Eastern Europe, from mid-19 th to early 20 th century (minorities such as orphans, the handicapped, and women as marginalized in society); (2) in Central Europe and Palestine, during the first half of the 20 th century (similar minorities); (3) in the State of Israel (similar minorities, as well as Arabs, Jews of Asian and African origin and migrant workers). Our survey shows that authors of Modern Hebrew literature displayed an acute awareness of the plight of different minorities.

Key words

Hebrew Literature, Minorities, Jews & Arabs, Ashkenazim, Mizrahim

Zitate

Indeed, “Hebrew Literature” covers a wide range of genres and concerns, but if we wish to narrow it down to belletristic writings, the starting point is usually considered the publication in 1853 of the novel Love of Zion [’Ahavat Zion] by Abraham Mapu (1808⊖1867).

The center of MHL in Palestine started to evolve gradually during the first decade of the 20th Century, formed by writers who immigrated from Eastern Europe and settled mostly in Jaffa, and later in the newly-created Tel Aviv, known as “the first Hebrew city” (established 1909). Among the main figures who created this center were: S. Ben-Zion (pen name of Simcha Alter Gutman, 1870⊖ 1932), who settled in Jaffa in 1905, where in 1907⊖1909 he edited and published the literary magazine Ha‛omer, and who was one of the founders of Tel Aviv; Alexander Siskind Rabinovitz (known by the acronym “Azar”, 1854⊖1945), who arrived in 1906; R. Binyamin (pen name of Yehoshua Redler-Feldman, 1880⊖1957) who arrived in 1907; Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1887⊖1970), who was still a fledgling writer on arriving in Jaffa in 1908, where he established his reputation (he left for Germany in 1912, returning and settling in Jerusalem in 1924); Yosef Haim Brenner (1881⊖ 1921) who, on arriving in 1909 was already a Hebrew writer of great fame and who was significantly responsible for the development of the literary center in Palestine, which he lead until his murder by Arabs in the suburbs of Jaffa; the poet David Shimony (1891⊖1956) who arrived in 1909, left for Europe in 1911 and returned in 1920; the poet Rachel Bluwstein (1890⊖1931) who arrived in 1911, left for Europe in 1913 and returned in 1919; Dvora Baron (1887⊖1956), the outstanding woman author of the generation, who arrived in 1911; poet and short stories writer Yaakov Steinberg (1887⊖1947), who immigrated in 1914, went to Germany after WWI and returned in 1925; and others. Some stayed for a short period and left never to return, among them well known-writers such as Uri Nissan Gnessin (1907⊖8) and, much later, David Vogel (1929⊖30).

A few Hebrew writers were established in Central and Western Europe for longer periods, but they usually lived and created in seclusion, away from the centers of literature where Hebrew newspapers, periodicals and books were published, and where writers formed more or less amorphous literary associations (as mentioned above, first mainly Odessa and Warsaw, and later Tel Aviv). The outstanding figures among these isolated writers include: Micha Josef Berdyczewski (see above Part I), who lived for years in the provincial German city of Breslau (now Wroclaw in Poland) before moving to Berlin; Y. H. Brenner, who, escaping from Russia in 1904, published Hebrew literary magazines first in London and then in Lemberg (Lvov), before immigrating to Palestine in 1909; Gershon Shoffman (1880⊖1972), who spent many years in the Austrian village of Wetzelsdorf near Graz, before immigrating to Palestine in 1938; and David Vogel (1891⊖1944) who lived in Austria and France, and although immigrating briefly to Palestine (1929⊖1930) returned to Europe and spent his later years in France, where he perished during the Holocaust, a fate which Shoffman was lucky enough to escape through his last-minute immigration.

From the 1920’s the Hebrew center in Palestine started gaining force with the emergence of a younger generation, and also due to the arrival from Europe of many of the figures of the older one, headed by Bialik, along with the poet Shaul Tchernichovsky (1875⊖1943), and others. The younger generation, whose members rebelled against the literary conventions of the older one, included the poets Avraham Shlonski (1900⊖1973) who immigrated in 1921, and was considered the leader of the younger generation, eventually occupying a position somewhat similar to that of Bialik’s in Odessa in his capacity as editor and arbiter of literary quality; Natan Alterman (1910⊖1970), who immigrated in 1925 and was to assume in retrospect the position of the most esteemed literary figure of his times, outshining Shlonski as a poet if not as an editor; Uri Zvi Greenberg (1896⊖ 1981), who immigrated in 1923 but soon assumed an oppositional, somewhat isolated position; prose writer Eliezer Steinman (1892⊖1970), who immigrated in 1924; the poet Alexander Penn (1906⊖1972), who arrived in 1927, and others. Established writers arrived from Europe also in the 1930’s, including Haim Hazaz (1898⊖1973) in 1931, Lea Goldberg (1911⊖1970) in 1935, and Shoffman in 1938.

In the first decades of the 20 thcentury women came into prominence mostly as poets, including Rachel Bluwstein, Esther Raab (1894⊖1981) and Yocheved Bat-Miriam (1901⊖ 1980). Some of the women poets also wrote prose; one of them was Elisheva Bichovsky (1888⊖ 1949), a Russian Christian by birth who immigrated to Palestine in 1925 after developing an interest in Hebrew and Yiddish literature and marrying a Jewish writer. Apart from Hebrew poetry she also published short stories and the impressionistic novel Alleys [Simta’ot] (1929) (Shaked, 126). Lea Goldberg, a major poet and a prolific writer in many genres, published only one novel in her lifetime, And He Is the Light [Vehu ha’or] (1946); another novel was published posthumously.

The term “Mizrahim” (“Orientals”) itself is misleading, as are other terms such as “Sephardim”.

Natan Alterman, the most admired poet of the generation, who was also involved in current affairs through his weekly newspaper columns written in verse, manifested profound support for Mizrahi immigration following 1948, emphasizing its importance in the solidification of the newly established state.

Poets often adopted unpopular moral positions opposing the common narrative which justified whatever was done to the other side in war, sometimes paying a grave personal price for their expression, as they seemed by popular opinion to be taking the Arabs’ side. On the other hand there was also the somewhat unique case of Uri Zvi Greenberg (1896⊖1981), whose poetry contains extremely hostile expressions towards the Arabs.

At the opposite pole to Greenberg was the poet Avot Yeshurun (the pen name of Yehiel Perlmutter, 1904⊖1992) (Rogani, 64⊖88). Although he started publishing in the 1930’s, he was considered a marginal poet until he was rediscovered in the 1970’s and his work gained much esteem.

Haim Gouri (b. 1923) is often considered the most representative poet of the War of Independence, who expressed the spirit of his generation more poignantly than any other poet.

Yehuda Amichai (1924⊖2000) also fought in Israel’s War of Independence, but he started publishing a little later than the other war poets, and is usually grouped with the poets who emerged in the mid 1950’s. In time he became Israel’s most popular poet, and also the most often translated.

Protest poems by 45 different poets were published in the anthology edited by Tal Nitzan, With a Pen of Iron: Hebrew Protest Poetry 1984⊖2004 [Be‘et barzel] (2005). The anthology includes poems by some of the best loved Israeli poets, such as Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936⊖2005) and Natan Zach (b. 1930), as well as by other well-established poets side by side with younger ones.

Also can be mentioned the Druz poet Na‘im ‘Araidi (b. 1950), who published several collections of Hebrew poetry as well as a novel, Fatal Baptism [Tvila katlanit] (1992). Another Druz poet, Salman Masalkha (b. 1953), writes mostly in Arabic, but also published a Hebrew poetry book, In Place [’Ekhad mikan] (2004); he also writes for the Hebrew press.