The Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1743-1885)

by Nahum Slouschz

Overview

Chapters include: In Italy, In German, In Poland and Austria, in Lithuania, The Romantic Movement, The Emancipation Movement, The Conflict with Rabbinism, Reformers and Conservatives, The National Progressive Movement, The Contributors to Ha-Shahar, The Novels of Smolenskin, and Contemporaneous Literature. From the Translator's Note: "The modern chapter in the history of Hebrew literature herewith presented to English readers was written by Dr. Nahum Slouschz as his thesis for the doctorate at the University of Paris, and published in book form in 1902. A few years later (1906-1907), the author himself put his Essay into Hebrew, and it was brought out as a publication of the _Tushiyah_, under the title _Korot ha-Safrut ha-'Ibrit ha-Hadashah_. The Hebrew is not, however, a mere translation of the French book. The material in the latter was revised and extended, and the presentation was considerably changed, in view of the different attitude toward the subject naturally taken by Hebrew readers, as compared with a Western public, Jewish or non-Jewish."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455366811
Publisher:	B&R Samizdat Express
Publication date:	02/27/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	445 KB

About the Author

Nahum Slouschz (November 1872- died December 1966), was a Russian-born Israeli writer, translator and archaeologist. He was known for his studies of the "secret" Jews of Portugal and Jews living in remote areas in Africa.
Nahum Slouschz was born in Smarhon and raised in Odessa. He studied at a local school and was tutored in Jewish studies by his father. At nineteen, he was sent to Palestine by the Hovevei Zion Society of Odessa to explore possibilities of founding a colony in the Holy Land. He was not successful and returned home. In 1896 he traveled through Austria and Lithuania, and then went to Egypt and again to Palestine.

Slouschz was an devoted follower of Herzl and the Zionist movement. Slouschz established branches of the movement in Odessa and wrote at length about the Jewish question. He attended the Second Zionist Congress at Basel as a delegate and correspondent.

In 1898 he studied belles-lettres and philosophy at the University of Geneva. During this time, he helped to found the Swiss Federation of Zionists. In 1900 he went to Paris, where he studied Oriental languages. He earned a livelihood as correspondent of several newspapers, among them Ha-Melitz and Ha-Tsefirah. In 1902, he worked as a teacher in Auteuil. He completed his doctorate at the University of Paris in 1903 on the subject of the renaissance of Hebrew literature. His thesis was published first in French and then revised and extended for publication in Hebrew under the title "Korot ha-Sifrut ha-Ivrit ha-Hadasha." In 1909, an English version of the thesis incorporating new material was published under the title The Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1743-1885). In 1904, he lectured on Neo-Hebraic literature at the University of Paris. In 1919 he immigrated to Palestine.

Table of Contents

In Italy. Moses Hayyim Luzzatto — In Germany. The Meassefim — In Poland and Austria. The Galician school — In Lithuania. Humanism in Russia — The romantic movement. Abraham Mapu — The emancipation movement. The realists — The conflict with Rabbinism. Judah Leon Gordon — Reformers and conservatists. The two extremes — The national progressive movement. Perez Smolenskin — The contributors to Ha-Shahar — The novels of Smolenskin — Contemporaneous literature — Conclusion.