Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T11:43:02.495Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

29 - The “Forgers” of World Literature: Translation, Nachdichtung, and Hebrew World Poetry

from Part V - World Literature and Translation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2021

Debjani Ganguly
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Get access

Summary

In the years following World War II, modern Hebrew poets like Leah Goldberg wrestled with the rupture from European culture and their own longing for it against Zionism’s “rejection of the diaspora.” In this context, translation allowed for a continued dialogue with past and present Europe, while it also constituted a vital investment on behalf of a national literature in Hebrew. Anthologies of shirat ‘olam, world poetry, appeared with greater frequency in the post-war years, both to increase the corpus of world literature in Hebrew translation and to position Hebrew as a national literary language on the world stage. This chapter explores how an understanding of world literature took shape in early twentieth century Hebrew literature, and particularly in the field of poetry, where translated poems circulated widely in a range of formats, from radio broadcasts to newspapers and anthologies. Drawing from Goldberg’s oeuvre, this chapter considers her translation activity as part of a broader discourse on “world literature” in early to mid-twentieth century Hebrew literary culture, one that privileged, as I show, a European world literary model. Goldberg’s translations of the poetry from Far Eastern languages, specifically Chinese and Japanese poetry, both expand and complicate the coordinates of her world literary map. The inclusion of Chinese and Japanese poetry in translation expanded her poetic map “beyond Bialystock” and Tel Aviv, but as translations mediated by German translation and European Orientalism, they bring into relief a critical tension between “the far and the near” that underlies world literary models in general, and the case of the Hebrew ‘olam in particular.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apter, Emily. 2005. “Translation with No Original: Scandals of Textual Reproduction.” In Nation, Language, and the Ethics of Translation, ed. Bermann, Sandra and Wood, Michael. Princeton University Press, 159–74.Google Scholar
Brin, Gershon. 2001. The Concept of Time in the Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassin, Barbara, ed. 2014. Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon. Trans. Steven Rendall, Christian Hubert, Jeffrey Mehlman, Nathanael Stein, and Michael Syrotinski; ed. Apter, Emily, Lezra, Jacques, and Wood, Michael. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Cutter, William. 1990. “Ghostly Hebrew, Ghastly Speech: Scholem to Rosenzweig, 1926.” Prooftexts, Vol. 10, No. 3 (September): 413–33.Google Scholar
Emmerich, Karen. 2017. Literary Translation and the Making of Originals. Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 1950. “Avraham Shlonsky ke-metargem shira” [Avraham Shlonsky as a Translator of Poetry]. In Yevul: Kovets le- divrei sifrut u- machshava ‘im yovel Avraham Shlonsky [Harvest: A Collection of Literature and Thought for Avraham Shlonsky’s Jubilee]. Sifriyat po‘alim, 3137.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 1959. Mukdam u-me’uchar [Early and Late]. Sifriyat po‘alim.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 1966a. “Certain Aspects of Imitation and Translation in Poetry.” In Actes du IVe congrès de l’Association internationale de littérature comparée, Fribourg 1964 [Proceedings of the IVth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association], Vol. II, ed. Jost, François . Mouton, 837–43.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. trans. and ed. 1966b. Lu’ach ha- ohavim: leket shirei ahava mi-shirat Yisrael ve-‘amim le-12 chodshei ha-shana [A Calendar of Lovers: An International Anthology of Love Poetry for the Twelve Months of the Year]. Amichai.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. [1973] 1998. Shirim [Poems]. Vol. I . Sifriyat po‘alim.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 1975. Kolot rechokim u- krovim [Voices Far and Near]. Ed. Ruebner, Tuvia. Sifriyat po‘alim.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 1984. “Eiropa shelakhem” [Your Europe]. In Yoffe, A. B., Pegishot ‘im Leah Goldberg [Encounters with Leah Goldberg]. Cherikover, 7576.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 2005. Yomanei Leah Goldberg (Diaries). Ed. Rachel and Arieh, Aharoni. Sifriyat po‘alim-Ha-kibbuts ha-me’uchad.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 2017. Yoman sifruti: Mivchar reshimot ‘itonut, 1928–1941 [Literary Journal: Selection of Journalistic Writings]. Ed. Tickotsky, Giddon and Bar-Yosef, Hamutal. Sifriyat po‘alim.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah. 2018. “Entries from the Diaries of Lea Goldberg.” Trans. Tsipi Keller. Brooklyn Rail (November): http://intranslation.brooklynrail.org/hebrew/entries-from-the-diaries-of-lea-goldberg.Google Scholar
Goldberg, Leah, and Shlonsky, Avraham, eds. 1942. Shirat Rusiya [Russian Poetry]. Sifriyat po‘alim.Google Scholar
Göransson, Johannes. 2018. Transgressive Circulation: Essays on Translation. Noemi Press.Google Scholar
Halperin, Liora. 2015. Babel in Zion: Jews, Nationalism, and Language Diversity in Palestine, 1920–1948. Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Hamill, Sam. 2005. Almost Paradise: New and Selected Poems and Translations. Shambhala.Google Scholar
Hever, Hannan. 1997. “‘Our Poetry Is Like an Orange Grove’: Anthologies of Hebrew Poetry in Erets Israel.” Trans. Louise Shabat Beit-Lehem. Prooftexts, Vol. 17, No. 2 (May): 199225.Google Scholar
Huizinga, Johan. [1938] 1949. Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Adriana X. 2018. Strange Cocktail: Translation and the Making of Modern Hebrew Poetry. University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Kaminka, Aharon. 1887. “Mavo le-shirat ha-yavanim” [Introduction to Greek Poetry]. Kneset Yisra’el, Vol. 2: 127160.Google Scholar
Katz, Emmanuel. 1953. “Tarbut” [Culture]. Ha-yarden (May 24): 4.Google Scholar
Koplewitz, Jacob. 1931. “Nekudot maga” [Points of Interest]. Davar (April 1): 67.Google Scholar
L. 1953. “Peninim mi-shirat ha-‘olam” [Pearls of World Poetry]. Ma’ariv (March 27): 5.Google Scholar
Levy, Lital and Schachter, Allison. 2015. “Jewish Literature/World Literature: Between the Local and the Transnational.PMLA, Vol. 130, No. 1: 92109.Google Scholar
Lieblich, Amia. 1995. El Leah [Towards Leah]. Ha-kibbuts ha-me’uchad.Google Scholar
M. 1904. “Ha-katedra ha-rishona le-sifrut ha-‘ivrit ha-chadasha” [The First Chair in Modern Hebrew Literature]. Ha-tsefira, Vol. 26 (February 12): 7.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, Tokumyo. 1935. “The Yellow Man’s Burden.” The Living Age (December): 297–300.Google Scholar
Mendelssohn, Moses. 2011. Moses Mendelssohn: Writings on Judaism, Christianity, and the Bible. Ed. Gottlieb, Michah ; trans. Curtis Bowman, Elias Sacks, and Allan Arkush. Brandeis University Press.Google Scholar
Owen, Stephen, trans. and ed. 2015. The Poetry of Du Fu, Vol. II. De Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pelli, Moshe. 2005. In Search of Genre: Hebrew Enlightenment and Modernity. University of America Press.Google Scholar
Razili, Hava. 1961. “He-‘aza mul ha-shigra” [Courage against Routine]. Ma’ariv (June 9): 14.Google Scholar
Rokem, Na’ama. 2017. “Questioning Weltliteratur: Heinrich Heine, Leah Goldberg, and the Department of Comparative Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.” Prooftexts, Vol. 36, Nos. 1–2 : 217–39.Google Scholar
Schimmel, Harold. 1980. “Translator’s Foreword.” In The Syrian African-Rift and Other Poems. Jewish Publication Society of America, xixxi.Google Scholar
Segal, Nina. 2008. “Velimir Khlebnikov in Hebrew.” Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas, Vol. 6, No. 1: 81109.Google Scholar
Stroumsa, Guy G. 1996. “Hebrew Humanism Revisited: Jewish Studies and Humanistic Education in Israel.” Jewish Quarterly Review Vol. 3, No. 2: 123–35.Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 1995. Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Uriel, Gila. 1953. Peninim mi-shirat ha-‘olam [Pearls of World Poetry]. Yavne.Google Scholar
Zaritt, Saul Noam. 2020. Jewish American Writing and World Literature: Maybe to Millions, Maybe to Nobody. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, Yfaat. 2009. “A Small Town in Germany: Leah Goldberg and German Orientalism in 1932.” The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 99, No. 2 (Spring): 200–29.Google Scholar
Weiss, Yfaat, and Ticotsky, Giddon, eds. 2009. Ne‘arot ‘ivriyot: mikhtevei Lea Goldberg min ha-provintsya, 1923–1935 [Hebrew Youth: Lea Goldberg’s Letters from the Province]. Sifriyat po‘alim.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×