10112 Selected Hebrew Short Stories: Early Twentieth Century 1

Credits: 6 introductory credits in Hebrew Literature

Prerequisites: none

Author: Hanna Herzig, Avner Holtzman

The course presents an interpretation of nine stories, analyzed and compared through modern narrative theory, referring to their common historical and literary context. It opens with a historical introduction and ends with a new analysis of three stories from a modern theoretical perspective.

Objectives: To acquaint the student with a selection of masterpieces in Hebrew literature and provide methods for literary analysis and interpretation; guided reading of each story enables the student to understand literary principles and structures as they emerge from the specific work; to examine the stories based on common features; to study the literary history of the period.

Topics: Historical-literary introduction; Micha Joseph Berdyczewski, “Two Camps” (Mahanaim); Haim Nahman Bialik, “Behind the Fence” (Meahorei Hagader); Isaac Dov Berkowitz, “Marishka”; Yaakov Steinberg, “The Rabbi’s Daughter” (Bat Harav); Dvora Baron, “The Thorny Road” (Dereh Kotzim); The stories of Gershom Shofman; Uri Nisan Gnessin, “Besides”; Yosef Haim Brenner, “Nothing”; S. Y. Agnon, “Ovadia the Cripple” (Ovadia Baal Moom); Summary – thematics and poetics in early 20th century stories; “The Thorny Road,” “Besides,” “Two Camps” – analysis from a modern perspective.

---

1This is a new version of Selected Early 20th Century Hebrew Short Stories. The stories were selected by Prof. Menuha Gilboa.

This course is also offered in Russian (42127). Its description is available on the Russian-language website of the Open University (https://www-r.openu.ac.il/).

There is some overlap in the content of this and other courses. For details, see Overlapping Courses.