back to krenitz...
sometimes the most familiar becomes the greatest mystery. although i've begun my preliminary research, i haven't been entirely comfortable with the relevancy of my thesis topic. after much contemplation i realized that i ought to write about something i actually know, instead of trying to completely reinvent myself in academic terms. like, why not use the opportunity to understand something a bit more Jewish? Why shouldn't these lesser known writings be brought to the academic forum? Although i've read works like Memoirs etc. i've spent most of the past years catching up on the never-ending cannon of Western literature...
this past spring, i gave a lecture on literary relativism from the position of Jonathan Safran Foer...a chassidic interpetation actually [i know that makes some of you cringe]. i argued that books must be interpreted as individualized stories, in a particular context and reference base...removed from the tradition of grand narratives. writing about yeats [who has been written about altogether too much and uber-extensively] seems stupid, one; because i am not irish, two; because it all seems to have been 'said' by someone who actually is, three; it seems wholly irrelevant to the course of life. so although i love yeats' works, it doesn't seem to mean much as far as academic innovation is concerned. i'd hate to spend my entire summer subconsciously rewriting what has been written about throughout the 70s and 80s.
thus, enter newly revamped idea: write about the role of language as used in the 20th century modern period, particularly relating Yeats' Gaelic Revival to the Zionist movement towards Hebrew [namely in the works of H.N. Bialik]. This is going to be much cooler. Because I speak Hebrew and Yiddish, i'm aiming to document the linguistic shift from ghetto yiddish to nationalist hebrew as reinvented through the poetry of secular zionists. just like yeats extracted himself from catholicism and developed a new, 'return' to old irish and folkloric traditions, i'm hoping to draw some comparisons and differences with the early ideology of zionists and the final decades of the shtetl. the idea of the language of revolution/innovation/nationalism as it relates to the end of british colonialism [post-colonial theory as interpeted by Edward Said] is fairly new as are themes of transnationalism from a literary persepective. this is way more fascinating... admittedly, i've never truly studied yiddish poetry or early hebrew work [minus the old Spanish few. my grandfather's father actually owned a printing press and it seems somewhat pathetic that i have never really read the works belonging to my own immediate background. Besides i have such amazing resources... Bubby Nemes, my grandparents... i'd be stupid not to do it on something so easily accessible. so yes, sometimes we should stick with what we intrinsicly know, and we might surprise ourselves by realizing how little of it we actually do know.
in other post-Shabbos news:
i'm contemplating accepting a position as a Bais Rivkah HS English teacher for next fall. also- grandparents are here for graduation season, 'tis fun as always.
moo's party was nice, milchig cinnamon buns rock.
over and out to the italian contingency [actually, i'm not too sure why i still have a blog]
i am planning to drive to Seattle in January- when this whole crazy whirlwind finally passes.
and no. i don't want company.
i'm definitely going solo.... but maybe... just maybe... i'll find my way back to krenitz.
Future generations,
brothers still to come,
don't you dare
be scornful of our songs.
songs about the weak,
songs of the exhausted
in a poor generation,
before the world's decline.
We were all imbued
With the idea of freedom,
yet sang our songs about it
with voices lowered.
far from our good fortune
we met at night, in darkness,
and worked at building bridges
in secrecy.
We hid from our foes
who lay in wait for us,
and this is why our songs
resonate with grief,
and why our melodies
have a dismal longing
and a hidden rage
in the warp and woof.
-Avraham Reisen
trans. Leonard Worf
this past spring, i gave a lecture on literary relativism from the position of Jonathan Safran Foer...a chassidic interpetation actually [i know that makes some of you cringe]. i argued that books must be interpreted as individualized stories, in a particular context and reference base...removed from the tradition of grand narratives. writing about yeats [who has been written about altogether too much and uber-extensively] seems stupid, one; because i am not irish, two; because it all seems to have been 'said' by someone who actually is, three; it seems wholly irrelevant to the course of life. so although i love yeats' works, it doesn't seem to mean much as far as academic innovation is concerned. i'd hate to spend my entire summer subconsciously rewriting what has been written about throughout the 70s and 80s.
thus, enter newly revamped idea: write about the role of language as used in the 20th century modern period, particularly relating Yeats' Gaelic Revival to the Zionist movement towards Hebrew [namely in the works of H.N. Bialik]. This is going to be much cooler. Because I speak Hebrew and Yiddish, i'm aiming to document the linguistic shift from ghetto yiddish to nationalist hebrew as reinvented through the poetry of secular zionists. just like yeats extracted himself from catholicism and developed a new, 'return' to old irish and folkloric traditions, i'm hoping to draw some comparisons and differences with the early ideology of zionists and the final decades of the shtetl. the idea of the language of revolution/innovation/nationalism as it relates to the end of british colonialism [post-colonial theory as interpeted by Edward Said] is fairly new as are themes of transnationalism from a literary persepective. this is way more fascinating... admittedly, i've never truly studied yiddish poetry or early hebrew work [minus the old Spanish few. my grandfather's father actually owned a printing press and it seems somewhat pathetic that i have never really read the works belonging to my own immediate background. Besides i have such amazing resources... Bubby Nemes, my grandparents... i'd be stupid not to do it on something so easily accessible. so yes, sometimes we should stick with what we intrinsicly know, and we might surprise ourselves by realizing how little of it we actually do know.
in other post-Shabbos news:
i'm contemplating accepting a position as a Bais Rivkah HS English teacher for next fall. also- grandparents are here for graduation season, 'tis fun as always.
moo's party was nice, milchig cinnamon buns rock.
over and out to the italian contingency [actually, i'm not too sure why i still have a blog]
i am planning to drive to Seattle in January- when this whole crazy whirlwind finally passes.
and no. i don't want company.
i'm definitely going solo.... but maybe... just maybe... i'll find my way back to krenitz.
Future generations,
brothers still to come,
don't you dare
be scornful of our songs.
songs about the weak,
songs of the exhausted
in a poor generation,
before the world's decline.
We were all imbued
With the idea of freedom,
yet sang our songs about it
with voices lowered.
far from our good fortune
we met at night, in darkness,
and worked at building bridges
in secrecy.
We hid from our foes
who lay in wait for us,
and this is why our songs
resonate with grief,
and why our melodies
have a dismal longing
and a hidden rage
in the warp and woof.
-Avraham Reisen
trans. Leonard Worf
posted by HindiK at 11:21 PM
3 Comments:
sounds like you've got your work cut out for you (re: thesis idea), dear one. aloha back from the "italian contingency". you still have a blog to remind us how much we miss you and the ghetto (can it be true??). i hope you accept the teaching job... all part of giving back to the commune + you're an amazing teacher, and wasting talent is a sin...
oh man, i miss you guys.
in the words of me ma
ET come home!
Goodluck with whatever you choose...
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