Modern Hebrew Fiction (Jewish Literature and Culture)
"In this abridgement of his definitive five-volume work in Hebrew (1977–99), Shaked (emer., Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem) first details the war of the languages between Yiddish, the polyglot Germanic language of Jews in the Diaspora, and Hebrew, the traditional sacred language of prayer. Though he barely mentions world literary figures like Sholem Aleichem and I.B. Singer (who wrote mainly in Yiddish), he discusses those few writers who wrote significantly in both Hebrew and Yiddish. Shaked gives both a general picture of historical trends and conditions and acute, succinct explications of the best works by the most notable writers. He catalogs four distinct generations of Hebrew writers—from the European-born of the 1880s to those born in post, 1948 Israel. He devotes full chapters only to Mendele Mokher Seforim and S.Y. Agnon. A detailed index and bibliography, a source list of Hebrew literary journals and newspapers, and a glossary of Hebrew terms and historical references supplement this volume, which is recommended for significant collections in comparative literature and Judaica serving upper-division undergraduates and above." —D. S. Gochberg, Michigan State University, 2001jan CHOICE.(D. S. Gochberg, Michigan State University, 2001jan CHOICE.)