Jump to content

A. B. Yehoshua: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
add controversial statement & ref
add info on 2 novels; add political views
Line 16: Line 16:
| subject =
| subject =
| movement = Israeli "New Wave"
| movement = Israeli "New Wave"
| notableworks = ''Mr. Mani''
| notableworks =
| awards = {{awd|[[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]]|2006|A Woman in Jerusalem}}
| awards = {{awd|[[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]]|2006|A Woman in Jerusalem}}
| influences = [[Franz Kafka]], [[William Faulkner]], [[Shmuel Yosef Agnon]]
| influences = [[Franz Kafka]], [[William Faulkner]], [[Shmuel Yosef Agnon]]
Line 30: Line 30:


From the end of his military service, he began to publish fiction. He became a notable figure in the "new wave" generation of Israeli writers who differed from earlier writers in their focus on the individual and interpersonal rather than the group. Yehoshua names [[Franz Kafka]], [[Shmuel Yosef Agnon]], and [[William Faulkner]] as formative influences <ref> Wiley, David. "[http://www.mndaily.com/ae/Print/1997/20/st/wwyeho.html Talkin' 'bout his generation]: Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua on the waning art of the democratic novel." ''Minnesota Daily'', 1997. </ref>. [[Harold Bloom]] compared Yehoshua to Faulkner in an article in the ''[[New York Times]]''<ref>Bloom, Harold. "Domestic Derangements; A Late Divorce, By A.B. Yehoshua Translated by Hillel Halkin," ''New York Times'', February 19, 1984. </ref> and also mentions him in his book ''The Western Canon'' <ref> Bloom, Harold. ''The Western Canon'' New York: Harcourt Brace & Co, 1994. 532.</ref>.
From the end of his military service, he began to publish fiction. He became a notable figure in the "new wave" generation of Israeli writers who differed from earlier writers in their focus on the individual and interpersonal rather than the group. Yehoshua names [[Franz Kafka]], [[Shmuel Yosef Agnon]], and [[William Faulkner]] as formative influences <ref> Wiley, David. "[http://www.mndaily.com/ae/Print/1997/20/st/wwyeho.html Talkin' 'bout his generation]: Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua on the waning art of the democratic novel." ''Minnesota Daily'', 1997. </ref>. [[Harold Bloom]] compared Yehoshua to Faulkner in an article in the ''[[New York Times]]''<ref>Bloom, Harold. "Domestic Derangements; A Late Divorce, By A.B. Yehoshua Translated by Hillel Halkin," ''New York Times'', February 19, 1984. </ref> and also mentions him in his book ''The Western Canon'' <ref> Bloom, Harold. ''The Western Canon'' New York: Harcourt Brace & Co, 1994. 532.</ref>.

⚫
Yehoshua attended the signing of the [[Geneva Accord]] and freely airs his political views in writing and interviews.


Currently he is a senior lecturer in literature at the [[University of Haifa]], in the city where he resides. He won the [[Bialik]] Prize and the [[Israel Prize]] for literature. His novel ''A Woman in Jerusalem'' won the 2006 [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]].
Currently he is a senior lecturer in literature at the [[University of Haifa]], in the city where he resides. He won the [[Bialik]] Prize and the [[Israel Prize]] for literature. His novel ''A Woman in Jerusalem'' won the 2006 [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]].

==Writing career==
Yehoshua is the author of nine novels. His most acclaimed novel, ''Mr Mani'', is a multigenerational look at Jewish identity and Israel through five conversations over the span of a century. <ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php</ref> ''Friendly Fire'' explores the nature of Israeli familial relationships.<ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php</ref>
==Political views==
⚫
Yehoshua attended the signing of the [[Geneva Accord]] and freely airs his political views in essays and interviews. He is a long-standing critic of Israeli occupation but also of the Palestinians. <ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php</ref>

==Controversy==
==Controversy==
Yehoshua has been criticized by the American Jewish community for his statement that a "full Jewish life could only be had in the Jewish state." He claimed that Jews elsewhere were only "playing with Judaism." <ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php</ref>
Yehoshua has been criticized by the American Jewish community for his statement that a "full Jewish life could only be had in the Jewish state." He claimed that Jews elsewhere were only "playing with Judaism." <ref>http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php</ref>

Revision as of 12:47, 23 November 2008

A. B. Yehoshua
Occupationnovelist, essayist, short story writer, playwright
NationalityIsrael
Literary movementIsraeli "New Wave"
Notable awardsLos Angeles Times Book Prize
2006 A Woman in Jerusalem

Abraham "Boolie" Yehoshua (Hebrew: א.ב. יהושע) (born 1936) is an Israeli novelist, essayist, and playwright. His pen name is A. B. Yehoshua.

Biography

Yehoshua was born to a fifth-generation Jerusalem family of Sephardi origin. After studying literature and philosophy at the Hebrew University, he began teaching. From 1963 to 1967 Yehoshua lived and taught in Paris. In 1972 he joined the faculty of the University of Haifa.[1]

From the end of his military service, he began to publish fiction. He became a notable figure in the "new wave" generation of Israeli writers who differed from earlier writers in their focus on the individual and interpersonal rather than the group. Yehoshua names Franz Kafka, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, and William Faulkner as formative influences [2]. Harold Bloom compared Yehoshua to Faulkner in an article in the New York Times[3] and also mentions him in his book The Western Canon [4].

Currently he is a senior lecturer in literature at the University of Haifa, in the city where he resides. He won the Bialik Prize and the Israel Prize for literature. His novel A Woman in Jerusalem won the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Writing career

Yehoshua is the author of nine novels. His most acclaimed novel, Mr Mani, is a multigenerational look at Jewish identity and Israel through five conversations over the span of a century. [5] Friendly Fire explores the nature of Israeli familial relationships.[6]

Political views

Yehoshua attended the signing of the Geneva Accord and freely airs his political views in essays and interviews. He is a long-standing critic of Israeli occupation but also of the Palestinians. [7]

Controversy

Yehoshua has been criticized by the American Jewish community for his statement that a "full Jewish life could only be had in the Jewish state." He claimed that Jews elsewhere were only "playing with Judaism." [8]

Quotes

"....[Diaspora Jews] change [their] nationalities like jackets. Once they were Polish and Russian; now they are British and American. One day they could choose to be Chinese or Singaporean...For me, Avraham Yehoshua, there is no alternative... I cannot keep my identity outside Israel. [Being] Israeli is my skin, not my jacket.

[9]

"The Palestinians are in a situation of insanity reminiscent of the insanity of the German people in the Nazi period. The Palestinians are not the first people that the Jewish people has driven insane."

Subsequent clarification by Yehoshua: "I ask myself a question that must be asked: What brought the Germans and what is bringing the Palestinians to such hatred of us? … We have a tough history. We came here out of a Jewish experience, and the settlements are messing it up."

[10]

"Diaspora Judaism is masturbation," Yehoshua told editors and reporters at The Jerusalem Post. "Here," meaning, in Israel, he said, "it is the real thing." [11]

Works published in English

Novels

  • Early in the Summer of 1970 [Bi-Thilat Kayitz, 1970, 1972]. Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, 1977. London, Heinemann, 1980. New York, Berkley Publishing, 1981. London, Fontana Paperbacks, 1990. ISBN 0385025904
  • Three Days and a Child [Shlosha Yamim Ve-Yeled, 1975]. Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, 1970. London, Peter Owen, 1971. ISBN 0720601614
  • The Lover [Ha-Me'ahev, 1977]. Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, 1978 (translated by Philip Simpson). Dutton, 1985. Harvest/HBJ, 1993. ISBN 0156539128
  • A Late Divorce [Gerushim Meuharim, 1982]. London, Harvill Press, 1984. Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, 1984. London, Sphere/Abacus Books, 1985. New York, Dutton, 1985. San Diego, Harcourt Brace, 1993. ISBN 0156494477
  • Five Seasons [Molcho, 1987]. New York, Doubleday, 1989. New York, Dutton Obelisk, 1989. London, Collins, 1989. Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1990. London, Fontana, 1990. ISBN 1870015940
  • Mr. Mani [Mar Manni, 1990]. New York, Doubleday, 1992. London, Collins, 1992. London, Peter Halban, 1993. San Diego, Harvest/HBJ, 1993. London, Phoenix/Orion Books, 1994. ISBN 1857991850
  • Open Heart [Ha-Shiv`a Me-Hodu (The Return from India), 1994]. Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, 1995. London, Peter Halban, 1996. San Diego, Harvest/HBJ, 1997. ISBN 0156004844
  • A Journey to the End of the Millennium [Masah El Sof Ha-Elef, 1997]. New York, Doubleday & Co., 1999. London, Peter Halban, 1999. ISBN 0156011166
  • The Liberated Bride [Ha-Kala Ha-Meshachreret, 2001]. London, Peter Halban, 2004. ISBN 0156030160
  • A Woman in Jerusalem [Shlihuto Shel Ha-memouneh Al Mashabei Enosh (The Human Resources Supervisor's Mission), 2004]. London, Halban Publishers, 2006. ISBN 1870015983. New York, Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 0151012261
  • Friendly Fire: A Duet. London, Halban Publishers, 2008, ISBN 978-1905559084.

Short Stories

  • The Continuing Silence of a Poet. London, Peter Halban, 1988. London, Fontana Paperbacks, 1990. London, New York, Penguin, 1991. Syracuse, N.Y., Syracuse University Press, 1998. ISBN 0815605595

Essays

  • Israel. London, Collins, 1988. New York, Harper & Row, 1988. Jerusalem, Steimatzky/Collins Harvill, 1988.
  • Between Right and Right [Bein Zechut Le-Zechut, 1980]. Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, 1981. ISBN 0385170351
  • The Terrible Power of a Minor Guilt [Kocha Ha-Nora Shel Ashma Ktana, 1998]. New York, Syracuse University Press, 2000. ISBN 0815606567
  • "An Attempt to Identify the Root Cause of Antisemitism". Azure Spring 5768/2008, No. 32. [12]

Plays

  • A Night in May [Layla Be-May, 1975]. Tel Aviv, Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, 1974.
  • Possessions [Hafatzim, 1986]. Portsmouth, Heinemann, 1993.

References

  1. ^ Feld, Ross. "Restless Souls: The novels of Israeli writer A. B. Yehoshua create their own diaspora." Boston Review, 2000.
  2. ^ Wiley, David. "Talkin' 'bout his generation: Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua on the waning art of the democratic novel." Minnesota Daily, 1997.
  3. ^ Bloom, Harold. "Domestic Derangements; A Late Divorce, By A.B. Yehoshua Translated by Hillel Halkin," New York Times, February 19, 1984.
  4. ^ Bloom, Harold. The Western Canon New York: Harcourt Brace & Co, 1994. 532.
  5. ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php
  6. ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php
  7. ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php
  8. ^ http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/15/arts/IDSIDE15.php
  9. ^ from a speech delivered at the opening panel of the centennial celebration of the American Jewish Committee. Jerusalem Post Article, AJN Article
  10. ^ A. B. Yehoshua at an academic conference, Jerusalem Post, June 21, 2002
    http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1023716529742
  11. ^ http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1047531932327
  12. ^ http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?ID=418

Critical studies (since 2000)

Journal articles

  1. Gershon Shaked Interviews A. B. Yehoshua By: Shaked, Gershon; Modern Hebrew Literature, 2006 Fall; 3: 157-69.
  2. A Haifa Life: The Israeli Novelist Talks about Ducking into His Safe Room, Competition among His Writer Friends and Trying to Stay Optimistic about Peace in the Middle East By: Solomon, Deborah; New York Times Magazine, 2006 July 30; 13.
  3. In the Back Yard of Agnon's House: Between The Liberated Bride by A. B. Yehoshua and S. Y. Agnon By: Ben-Dov, Nitza; Hebrew Studies: A Journal Devoted to Hebrew Language and Literature, 2006; 47: 237-51.
  4. Semantic Parameters of Vision Words in Hebrew and English By: Myhill, John; Languages in Contrast: International Journal for Contrastive Linguistics, 2006; 6 (2): 229-60.
  5. Talking with A. B. Yehoshua By: Naves, Elaine Kalman; Queen's Quarterly, 2005 Spring; 112 (1): 76-86.
  6. The Silence of the Historian and the Ingenuity of the Storyteller: Rabbi Amnon of Mayence and Esther Minna of Worms By: Yuval, Israel Jacob; Common Knowledge, 2003 Spring; 9 (2): 228-40.
  7. Sexuality, Confrontation and Religiosity: The Aesthetics of Israeli Society in The Lover of A. B. Yehoshua By: Devir, Nathan P.; Rivista di Letterature Moderne e Comparate, 2002 Apr-June; 55 (2): 163-81.
  8. The Plot of Suicide in A. B. Yehoshua and Leo Tolstoy By: Horn, Bernard; European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms, 2001 Oct; 6 (5): 633-38.
  9. The Originary Scene, Sacrifice, and the Politics of Normalization in A. B. Yehoshua's Mr. Mani By: Katz, Adam; Anthropoetics: The Electronic Journal of Generative Anthropology, 2001 Fall-2002 Winter; 7 (2): 9 paragraphs.

Book articles

  1. Not Quite Holocaust Fiction: A. B. Yehoshua's Mr. Mani and W. G. Sebald's The Emigrants By: Newton, Adam Zachary. IN: Hirsch and Kacandes, Teaching the Representation of the Holocaust. New York, NY: Modern Language Association of America; 2004. pp. 422-30
  2. Shading the Truth: A. B. Yehoshua's 'Facing the Forests' By: Morahg, Gilead. IN: Cutter and Jacobson, History and Literature: New Readings of Jewish Texts in Honor of Arnold J. Band. Providence, RI: Program in Judaic Studies, Brown University; 2002. pp. 409-18
  3. Between Genesis and Sophocles: Biblical Psychopolitics in A. B. Yehoshua's Mr. Mani By: Feldman, Yael S.. IN: Cutter and Jacobson, History and Literature: New Readings of Jewish Texts in Honor of Arnold J. Band. Providence, RI: Program in Judaic Studies, Brown University; 2002. pp. 451-64

Template:Literature Portal

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A._B._Yehoshua&oldid=253583100"