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Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East

The Prose Literature and Culture of Haskalah

Course Code:
155901279
Status:
Course Not Running 2013/2014
Unit value:
0.5
Taught in:
Term 1
The course introduces students to the prose literature of the Haskalah in Europe, exploring the reasons for, the evolution of and the consequences of the Jewish movement of Enlightenment. Readings will begin with some of the earlier Haskalah texts drawn from eighteenth-century Germany but will concentrate on the work of Mapu, Mendele and Peretz. At the end of the course students should be able to read pre-modern Hebrew literature and have a grasp of the social and historical context of the literature.

Prerequisites

Successful completion of Intensive Modern Hebrew or achievement of a comparable standard.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

The objectives of the course will be to introduce the student to the literature of the Hebrew Haskalah in Europe and to understand the reasons for, the evolution of and the consequences of the Jewish movement of Enlightenment.

At the end of the course the student should be able to read pre-modern Hebrew literature and should have a sound grasp of social and historical context of literature.

Workload

Two hours per week over eleven weeks.

Method of assessment

One two-hour written paper in May/June (80%); one 2500-word essay to be submitted on the first day of Term 3 (20%).

Suggested reading

  • Katz, J.: Tradition and Crisis. 1961
  • Graupe, Heinz Mosche: The Rise of Modern Judaism: An Intellectual History of German Jewry, 1650-1942. Huntington, NY
  • Meyer, Michael A.: The Origins of the Modern Jew: Jewish Identity and European Culture in Germany, 1749-1824
  • Meyer, Michael A.: Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism. 1988
  • Patterson, D.: A Phoenix in Fetters. 1988
  • Patterson, D.: The Hebrew Novel in Czarist Russia. 1964, 1999
  • Patterson, D.: Abraham Mapu. 1964
  • Perl, Joseph: Revealer of Secrets: The First Hebrew Novel
  • Pelli, Moshe: The Age of Haskalah: Studies in Hebrew Literature of the Enlightenment in Germany. Studies in Judaism in Modern Times, 5. Leiden
  • Rabinovitch, I.: Major Trends in Modern Hebrew Fiction. 1968