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“The first of those who return”: Incarnations of the New Jew in modern Hebrew literature

2011; Routledge; Volume: 30; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13531042.2011.553065

1744-0548

Glenda Abramson,

German Literature and Culture Studies

Abstract In seeking to establish a paradigm of a literary “New Jew” for the early twentieth century, we must view the cultural developments of the time on the background of European modernist culture. During this period the European “New Jew” underwent many incarnations, including Max Nordau's muscular hero, Buber's “Renaissance” Jew, Berdyczewski's Nietzschean “new man,” Herzl's “authentic Jew,” and the Hebrew literary talush (rootless person). All the divergent ideas of Jewish renewal propounded in Europe were united in Shaul Tchernichovsky's poetry, either through deliberate reference or as a result of the tenor of the time. This article examines Tchernichovsky's implicit conception of the “New Jew” through two poems: “Lenokhah pesel Apollo” (Before a statue of Apollo, 1899) and “Ani – li misheli ein klum” (I have nothing of my own, 1937). Keywords: New JewHebrew literatureMartin BuberNietzscheMicha Josef BerdyczewskiShaul Tchernichovsky Notes 1 CitationHalkin, Modern Hebrew Literature, 88. 2 CitationMosse, “Nordau, Liberalism and the New Jew,” 567. “[A]t times,” Mosse writes, “Nordau even praised a certain brutality. And indeed, for most European nationalisms the image of the new man, such as the ‘new German,’ did entail the praise of force…” (571). 3 CitationShapira, Yehudim hadashim, 163–65. 4 CitationGelber, “The jungjüdische Bewegung,” 106. 5 CitationBertz, “Jewish Renissance – Jewish Modernism,” 165. 6 See CitationBiemann, “The Problem of Tradition,” 63. 7 Julie Kuhlken, “Nietzsche's Dabbling in the Political,” 2, http://interculture.fsu.edu/pdfs/kuhlken%20neitzsche%20political.pdf (accessed 23 November 2010). 8. See Gelber “The jungjüdische Bewegung,” 93. 9 See CitationElon, The Pity of It All, 239. 10 CitationBiemann, “The Problem of Tradition,” 71. 11 CitationGay, Schnitzler's Century, 116. 12 The strongly autobiographical play, forgotten today, deals with the illusions of assimilation when its hero, Jacob Samuels, suffers the betrayal of ostracism and anti-Semitism after having thought himself to be an accepted member of Viennese society. “They cast me out, they want nothing to do with me! He was the best of all and he could do this to me. Oh, one could die of laughter – or weeping. Get away from me, Jew! Back to the ghetto!” (Das Neue Ghetto, 70). CitationHerzl realized, through this character, that the only option for the Jews was the establishment of a dignified identity outside the context of gentile society, to escape from “the new ghetto” of their illusory self-perception. 13 A contemporary Mahler scholar poses a provocative question: whether it is due to his Jewishness that Mahler's music “speaks the language of the Austro-German tradition but with a different tone, accent and voice.” See CitationJohnson, Mahler's Voices, 258. 14 See CitationParush, Kanon sifruti. 15 See CitationSchwartz, “Maheshevet-ha-makom,” 456. 16 It is notable that three significant Hebrew works were composed in the same year, 1899: Berdyczewski's story “Me'ever la-nahar” (Across the river), Feierberg's story “Le'an” (Whither?), and Tchernichovsky's poem “Lenokhah pesel Apollo” (Before a statue of Apollo). 17 Quoted in CitationOhana, “Zarathustra in Jerusalem,” 41, 42. 18 See Gelber, “The jungjüdische Bewegung,” 106. 19 Shapira, Yehudim hadashim, 164. 20 This is the second version of the story, which Berdyczewski included in his collected works. The first, published in 1899, was a more expansive, descriptive and less concentrated narrative. The story is available on the Project Ben-Yehuda website, http://benyehuda.org/berdi/meever.html. All translations are mine. 21 See CitationWerses, “Ha-sipur ‘Me'ever la-nahar.’” 22 See Schwartz, “Maheshevet ha-makom,” 455, 464. 23 See Werses, “Ha-sipur ‘Me'ever la-nahar,’” 41. 24 See Ohana, “Zarathustra in Jerusalem,” 48, 52. 25 Quoted in CitationGovrin, Telishut ve-hithadshut, 20. 26 CitationRabinovich, “Major Trends in Modern Hebrew Fiction,” 97. 27 According to ibid., 100. 28 CitationVogel, Tahanot kavot, 271–326 (this entry marked 8 Heshvan 1912). 29 CitationShaked, Modern Hebrew Fiction, 46. 30 CitationBarzel. Shirat ha-tehiyah, 17. 31 CitationPinsker, Literary Passports, 15: “[Brenner] defends fellow writers like Shofman, Gnessin and Nomberg (and implicitly himself as well), against these ‘accusations’ [of fragmentariness in their literature] by saying that ‘if reality itself is broken,’ it is no wonder that the Hebrew literature that reflects it is also ‘miniature, torn, and broken into pieces.’ He continues by asking rhetorically, ‘what can one do?… if there is nothing else, one has to contend with looking at one's face with a miniature and broken mirror.’” 32 See Baruch Kurzweill, “He'arot le-shirei Yehuda Amichai” (Footnotes to Yehuda Amichai's poetry), Ha'aretz, 28 June 1963. 33 See CitationAbramson, “Hellenism Revisited,” 239. 34 CitationMann,“Portrait of the Artist,” 251. 35 CitationTchernichovsky, Shirim, 74 (emphasis added). All translations are mine. Further references to this book will appear in the text. 36 Biemann, “Aesthetic Education in Martin Buber,” 94. 37 See Biemann, “The Problem of Tradition and Reform,” 63. 38 Zohar and Yaacov Shavit, “Lenokhah pesel Apollo” (Before a statue of Apollo), Ha'aretz (Culture and literature section), 7 August 2009. 39 CitationSilberschlag, Saul Tschernichowsky, 17. 40 In his “Hymn of Apollo” (1824) Shelley wrote: All harmony of instrument or verse, All prophecy, all medicine is mine, All light of art or nature; – to my song Victory and praise in its own right belong. Apollo and Homer, to whom Shelley dedicated poetry, were characters of high romantic literature. In addition to expressing his sense of the ravages of exile, Tchernichovsky is also adopting the mythology of the romantic tradition that he admired. 41 For a comprehensive overview of Tchernichovsky criticism, see Barzel, Shirat ha-tehiyah, 441–62. 42 CitationBuber, “Heruth: On Youth and Religion,” 129. 43 See CitationBreslauer, Towards a Jewish (M)orality, 115–27. 44 Silberschlag, Saul Tschernichowsky, 30. 45 Although initially Tchernichovsky calls for the statues to be made “of stone or wood.” 46 Barzel, Shirat ha-tehiyah, 218. 47 CitationMiron, “‘Ha-adam eino ela.…’,” esp. 413, 415.