To be as the others. E. E. Lisitzky's re-presentation of native-Americans

In the course of modern Hebrew literature's few dacades of taking root, flowering and waning in America, no poet has been more Americanized, prolific and varied in his output than Ephraim E. Lisitzky (1885-1962). As his fellow Hebrew writers, Lisitzky Americanized his oeuvre by sharing his impr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Katz, Steven T. 1944- (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: College 2002
In: Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 2002, Volume: 73, Pages: 249-297
IxTheo Classification:BH Judaism
TK Recent history
Further subjects:B Jewish theology
B The Americas
Description
Summary:In the course of modern Hebrew literature's few dacades of taking root, flowering and waning in America, no poet has been more Americanized, prolific and varied in his output than Ephraim E. Lisitzky (1885-1962). As his fellow Hebrew writers, Lisitzky Americanized his oeuvre by sharing his impressions of the life, culture and landscape he encountered in the Golden Land. However he was also among a handful of Hebrew writers to address extensively the most marginalized minorities in the U.S., Indians and blacks. Of the latter, Lisitzky published a collection of poems, Bo'Oholey Khush (In the Tents of Kush, 1953). Writing of American Indians, though, Lisitzky's epic poem, Medurot do'akhot (Dying Campfires, 1937), is a unified story consisting of many original Indian folktales. This study seeks to illustrate the measure of Lisitzky's immersion in America by tracing his encounters with Indian tales throughout his literary career. It also seeks to identify the sources of these "original" (since they were already rendered into English and organized by non-native editors) tales, and understand their treatment by the Hebrew poet. As illustrated, Lisitzky did not adhere fully to the tales as found, but impressed them with his literary and ideological stamp, exhibiting Puritanical, maskilic values by extirpating the tales of their savage temperament or by rendering them in a heightened, literary style.
ISSN:0360-9049
Contains:In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion