Synopses & Reviews
With contributions from a dozen American and European scholars, this volume presents an overview of Jewish writing in post-World War II Europe. Striking a balance between close readings of individual texts and general surveys of larger movements and underlying themes, the essays portray Jewish authors across Europe as writers and intellectuals of multiple affiliations and hybrid identities. Aimed at a general readership and guided by the idea of constructing bridges across national cultures, this book maps for English-speaking readers the productivity and diversity of Jewish writers and writing that has marked a revitalization of Jewish culture in France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, and Russia.
Review
"... A remarkable collection of intelligent, clearly written, and extraordinarily useful essays.... a valuable resource for all of us in the field." --Emily Budick Indiana University Press
Review
"Liska... and Nolden... insightfully contextualize historic and cultural national frames and elucidate common themes and genres of post-Holocaust literature. In addition to offering strong essays on familiar Austrian, German, and French works, the volume elucidates less-familiar writers of Poland, Russia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Scandinavia through close readings of major figures or broad national overviews.... Recommended." --Choice Indiana University Press Indiana University Press
Review
"... the essays indicate that contemporary Jewish writing in Europe is constantly evolving; this volume not only helps bring us closer to understanding the complicated nature of that evolution in the recent past, but also inspires us to imagine what shape it might take in the future." --Lisa Silverman, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, SHOFAR, Vol. 27.3 Spring 2009
Review
"Recommended for any person or congregation interested in European literature in general and Jewish literature in particular." --Evelyn Pockrass, Church and Synagogue Libraries, Fourth issue 2009
Review
"This volume should prove useful not only for educators planning to use the material in classrooms but also for scholars and general audiences seeking recommendations for literature on specific themes...." --Shofar Indiana University Press
About the Author
Vivian Liska is Professor of German Literature and Director of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is author of The Night of the Hymns: Paul Celan's Poems, 1938-1944 (in German).
Thomas Nolden is Professor of German at Wellesley College, where he directs the comparative literature program. He is author of In Lieu of Memory: Contemporary Jewish Writing in France.
Table of Contents
Contents<\>Foreword by Alvin H. Rosenfeld
Acknowledgments
Introduction Thomas Nolden and Vivian Liska
1. Secret Affinities: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Austria Vivian Liska
2. Writing against Reconciliation: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Germany Stephan Braese
3. Remembering or Inventing the Past: Second-Generation Jewish Writers in the Netherlands Elrud Ibsch
4. Bonds with a Vanished Past: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Scandinavia Eva Ekselius
5. Imagined Communities: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Great Britain Bryan Cheyette
6. A la recherche du Judaïsme perdu: Contemporary Jewish Writing in France Thomas Nolden
7. Ital'Yah Letteraria: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Italy Christoph Miething
8. Writing along Borders: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Hungary Péter Varga with Thomas Nolden
9. Making Up for Lost Time: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Poland Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska
10. De-Centered Writing: Aspects of Contemporary Jewish Writing in Russia Rainer Grübel and Vladimir Novikov
List of Contributors
Index