
Jewish Literature
A Very Short Introduction
Ilan Stavans(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 22. July 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
978-0-19-007697-9 (ISBN)
Description
The story of Jewish literature is a kaleidoscopic one, multilingual and transnational in character, spanning the globe as well as the centuries.
In this broad, thought-provoking introduction to Jewish literature from 1492 to the present, cultural historian Ilan Stavans focuses on its multilingual and transnational nature. Stavans presents a wide range of traditions within Jewish literature and the variety of writers who made those traditions possible. Represented are writers as dissimilar as Luis de Carvajal the Younger, Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz, Isaac Babel, Anzia Yezierska, Elias Canetti, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Irving Howe, Clarice Lispector, Susan Sontag, Philip Roth, Grace Paley, Amos Oz, Moacyr Scliar, and David Grossman.
The story of Jewish literature spans the globe as well as the centuries, from the marrano poets and memorialists of medieval Spain, to the sprawling Yiddish writing in Ashkenaz (the "Pale of Settlement' in Eastern Europe), to the probing narratives of Jewish immigrants to the United States and other parts of the New World. It also examines the accounts of horror during the Holocaust, the work of Israeli authors since the creation of the Jewish State in 1948, and the "ingathering" of Jewish works in Brazil, Bulgaria, Argentina, and South Africa at the end of the twentieth century. This kaleidoscopic introduction to Jewish literature presents its subject matter as constantly changing and adapting.
In this broad, thought-provoking introduction to Jewish literature from 1492 to the present, cultural historian Ilan Stavans focuses on its multilingual and transnational nature. Stavans presents a wide range of traditions within Jewish literature and the variety of writers who made those traditions possible. Represented are writers as dissimilar as Luis de Carvajal the Younger, Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz, Isaac Babel, Anzia Yezierska, Elias Canetti, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Irving Howe, Clarice Lispector, Susan Sontag, Philip Roth, Grace Paley, Amos Oz, Moacyr Scliar, and David Grossman.
The story of Jewish literature spans the globe as well as the centuries, from the marrano poets and memorialists of medieval Spain, to the sprawling Yiddish writing in Ashkenaz (the "Pale of Settlement' in Eastern Europe), to the probing narratives of Jewish immigrants to the United States and other parts of the New World. It also examines the accounts of horror during the Holocaust, the work of Israeli authors since the creation of the Jewish State in 1948, and the "ingathering" of Jewish works in Brazil, Bulgaria, Argentina, and South Africa at the end of the twentieth century. This kaleidoscopic introduction to Jewish literature presents its subject matter as constantly changing and adapting.
Reviews / Votes
Reading Jewish literature becomes a stimulating journey; Stavans jumps from one author to another without clinging to either time or space. * Tessa Calders i Artis, Escola de libreria *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
10 images
Dimensions
Height: 170 mm
Width: 107 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
136 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-007697-9 (9780190076979)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2021
OUP eBook
€5.49
Available for download

E-Book
06/2021
OUP eBook
€5.49
Available for download
Person
Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities, Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. His books include How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish and Oy, Caramba!: An Anthology of Jewish Stories from Latin American, and he is the editor of The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories. His worked has been translated into twenty languages and has been adapted for film, TV, radio, and theater.
Author
Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino CultureLewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture, Amherst College
Content
Chapter One: People of the Book
Chapter Two: After the Expulsion
Chapter Three: The Age of Anxiety
Chapter Four: Into the Abyss
Chapter Five: Into the Mainstream
Chapter Six: The Ingathering
Chapter Seven: The Promised Land
Chapter Eight: The Letterless Canon
References
Further Reading
Index
Chapter Two: After the Expulsion
Chapter Three: The Age of Anxiety
Chapter Four: Into the Abyss
Chapter Five: Into the Mainstream
Chapter Six: The Ingathering
Chapter Seven: The Promised Land
Chapter Eight: The Letterless Canon
References
Further Reading
Index