The Hidden Isaac Bashevis Singer
Published on 1. January 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
280 pages
978-0-292-72868-4 (ISBN)
Description
Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer stands virtually alone among prominent writers for being more widely known through translations of his work than through the original texts. Yet readers and critics of the Yiddish originals have long pointed out that the English versions are generally shortened, often shorn of much description and religious matter, and their perspectives and denouements are significantly altered. In short, they turn the Yiddish author into a Jewish-American English writer, detached from of his Eastern European Jewish literary and cultural roots.
By contrast, this collection of essays by leading Yiddish scholars seeks to recover the authentic voice and vision of the writer known to his Yiddish readers as Yitskhok Bashevis. The essays are grouped around four themes:
The Yiddish language and the Yiddish cultural experience in Bashevis's writings
Thematic approaches to the study of Bashevis's literature
Bashevis's interface with other times and cultures
Interpretations of Bashevis's autobiographical writings
A special feature of this volume is the inclusion of Joseph Sherman's new, faithful translation of a chapter from Bashevis's Yiddish "underworld" novel Yarme and Keyle.
By contrast, this collection of essays by leading Yiddish scholars seeks to recover the authentic voice and vision of the writer known to his Yiddish readers as Yitskhok Bashevis. The essays are grouped around four themes:
The Yiddish language and the Yiddish cultural experience in Bashevis's writings
Thematic approaches to the study of Bashevis's literature
Bashevis's interface with other times and cultures
Interpretations of Bashevis's autobiographical writings
A special feature of this volume is the inclusion of Joseph Sherman's new, faithful translation of a chapter from Bashevis's Yiddish "underworld" novel Yarme and Keyle.
Reviews / Votes
"I can't think of another anthology, nor of any individual study of Singer, that sets out so rich and varied a sense of his work in its contexts." Lawrence Rosenwald, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of American Literature, Wellesley CollegeMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
462 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-292-72868-4 (9780292728684)
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
Previous edition
Seth L. Wolitz
The Hidden Isaac Bashevis Singer
Book
01/2002
University of Texas Press
€63.33
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Seth L. Wolitz holds the L. D., Marie, and Edwin Gale Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also Professor of French, Slavic, and Comparative Literature.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
I. The Yiddish Language and the Yiddish Cultural Experience in Bashevis's Writings
1. Irving Saposnik. A Canticle for Isaac: A Kaddish for Bashevis
2. Joseph Sherman. Bashevis/Singer and the Jewish Pope
3. Avrom Noversztern. History, Messianism, and Apocalypse in Bashevis's Work
4. Mark L. Louden. Sociolinguistic Views of Isaac Bashevis Singer
II. Thematic Approaches to the Study of Bashevis's Fiction
5. Leonard Prager. Bilom in Bashevis's Der knekht (The Slave): A khaye hot oykh a neshome (An animal also has a soul)
6. Alan Astro. Art and Religion in Der bal-tshuve (The Penitent)
7. Jan Schwarz. "Death Is the Only Messiah": Three Supernatural Stories by Yitskhok Bashevis
III. Bashevis's Interface With Other Times And Cultures
8. Astrid Starck-Adler. Bashevis's Interactions with the Mayse-bukh (Book of Tales)
9. Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska. The Role of Polish Language and Literature in Bashevis's Fiction
IV. Interpretations of Bashevis's Autobiographical Writings
10. Nathan Cohen. Revealing Bashevis's Earliest Autobiographical Novel, Varshe 1914-1918 (Warsaw 1914-1918)
11. Itzik Gottesman. Folk and Folklore in the Work of Bashevis
12. Janet Hadda. Bashevis at Forverts
V. Bashevis's Untranslated "Gangster" Novel: Yarme un keyle
13. Joseph Sherman. A Background Note on the Translation of Yarme un keyle
14. Isaac Bashevis Singer. Yarme and Keyle: Chapter 2, translated by Joseph Sherman
Appendix. Seth L. Wolitz and Joseph Sherman. Bashevis Singer as a Regionalist of Lublin Province: A Note
Glossary
Notes on Contributors
Index
Introduction
I. The Yiddish Language and the Yiddish Cultural Experience in Bashevis's Writings
1. Irving Saposnik. A Canticle for Isaac: A Kaddish for Bashevis
2. Joseph Sherman. Bashevis/Singer and the Jewish Pope
3. Avrom Noversztern. History, Messianism, and Apocalypse in Bashevis's Work
4. Mark L. Louden. Sociolinguistic Views of Isaac Bashevis Singer
II. Thematic Approaches to the Study of Bashevis's Fiction
5. Leonard Prager. Bilom in Bashevis's Der knekht (The Slave): A khaye hot oykh a neshome (An animal also has a soul)
6. Alan Astro. Art and Religion in Der bal-tshuve (The Penitent)
7. Jan Schwarz. "Death Is the Only Messiah": Three Supernatural Stories by Yitskhok Bashevis
III. Bashevis's Interface With Other Times And Cultures
8. Astrid Starck-Adler. Bashevis's Interactions with the Mayse-bukh (Book of Tales)
9. Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska. The Role of Polish Language and Literature in Bashevis's Fiction
IV. Interpretations of Bashevis's Autobiographical Writings
10. Nathan Cohen. Revealing Bashevis's Earliest Autobiographical Novel, Varshe 1914-1918 (Warsaw 1914-1918)
11. Itzik Gottesman. Folk and Folklore in the Work of Bashevis
12. Janet Hadda. Bashevis at Forverts
V. Bashevis's Untranslated "Gangster" Novel: Yarme un keyle
13. Joseph Sherman. A Background Note on the Translation of Yarme un keyle
14. Isaac Bashevis Singer. Yarme and Keyle: Chapter 2, translated by Joseph Sherman
Appendix. Seth L. Wolitz and Joseph Sherman. Bashevis Singer as a Regionalist of Lublin Province: A Note
Glossary
Notes on Contributors
Index