Elisha Ben Abuya, the Hebrew Faust: On the First Hebrew Translation of Faust Within the Setting of the Maskilic Change in Self-Perception
The publication of Meir ha-Levi Letteris’s translation-adaptation of Goethe’s Faust into Hebrew in 1865 was a prominent event in the contemporary world of Hebrew literature. The translator chose the story of Talmudic sage Elisha Ben Abuya, charged with connotations of otherness, heresy and rebellion...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2014
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| In: |
Naharaim
Year: 2014, Volume: 8, Issue: 1, Pages: 48-73 |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | The publication of Meir ha-Levi Letteris’s translation-adaptation of Goethe’s Faust into Hebrew in 1865 was a prominent event in the contemporary world of Hebrew literature. The translator chose the story of Talmudic sage Elisha Ben Abuya, charged with connotations of otherness, heresy and rebellion, as a framework for absorbtion of Goethe’s tragedy. The translation-adaptation provoked a dispute among 19th century Maskilim about two pivotal questions of self-identification – their position relative to Jewish tradition and its canon of exemplary figures, and the role of European literature in the formation of a Hebrew literary canon. The essay argues that the polemics which erupted following the publication of the Hebrew Faust indicated a transition within Maskilic society from universalistic Enlightenment models of self-comprehension and identification to nationalistic particularistic ones. |
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| ISSN: | 1862-9156 |
| Contains: | In: Naharaim
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/naha-2014-0007 |