Course Syllabus

Course Information
Course Number/Section HUHI 7368.001
Course Title Modern Jewish Literatures Across Cultures
Term Fall 2006
Days & Times Tuesday, 9:30-12.15

Professor Contact Information

Professor Nils Roemer
Office Phone 972-8832769
Email Address nroemer@utdallas.edu
Office Location JO 5.516
Office Hours Tuesday 2-3pm and Thursday 2-3pm

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

N/A

Course Description
This course introduces and explores modern Jewish literatures in multiple national
contexts and languages. We will investigate the interaction between modernity and vision
of Jewish identities and traditions. Our discussion will be structured around close
readings of texts and will focus on the relation between history and literature, language
and identity, aesthetics and ideology, and debates about Jewish literature, its scope,
nature, and character. Texts included in this course cover a broad range of literary styles
and periods from the nineteenth to the end of the twentieth centuries. Readings will
include, amongst others, Heinrich Heine, Grace Aguilar, Israel Zangwill, Arthur
Schnitzler, Hayim Bialik, Shalom Aleichem, Shmuel Agnon, Isaac Babel, Philip Roth,
and Cynthia Ozick.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

Students will be introduced to variety of styles and genres of modern Jewish literatures in
translations from different historical and geographical contexts. They will gain an
understanding of the contours of the modern Jewish experience through the prism of
literature. They will further their ability to critically review scholarly literature and
interpret literary texts from various perspectives.

Required Texts
Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of Jewish Short
Joseph Chaim Brenner, Breakdown and Bereavement
Arthur Schnitzler, The Road Into the Open
Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday
Required Materials
Some readings assignments can be found on Dr. Roemer’s homepage.

Suggested Course Materials

Suggested Readings/Texts

Glenda Abrahmson, ed., The Oxford Book of Hebrew Short Stories (1997)
Robert Alter, ed. Modern Hebrew Literature (1975)
Joyce Antler, ed., America and I: Short Stories by Jewish American Women
Warren Bargad and Stanley Chyet, Israeli Poetry: A Contemporary Anthology (1986)
Claudia Bathsheba Braude, Contemporary Jewish Writing in South Africa: An Anthology
(2001)
T. Carmi, The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (1981)
Jules Chametzky, ed. Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology (2000),
Bryan Cheyette, ed. Contemporary Jewish Writing in Britain and Ireland: An Anthology
(1998)
Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe
(1967; 1989)
Bernhard Frank, ed. Modern Hebrew Poetry (1980)
Michael Greenstein, ed. Contemporary Jewish Writing in Canada: An Anthology (2004)
Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg, A Treasury of Yiddish Stories (1990)
Irving Howe, Ruth R. Wisse, and Khone Shmeruk, The Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish
Verse (1987)
Aaron Kramer, A Century of Yiddish Poetry (1989)
Michael Lerner, Best Contemporary Jewish Writing (2001)
Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of Jewish Short Stories (1979)
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz, ed. Contemporary Jewish Writing in Austria: An Anthology (1999)
Ruth Finer Mintz, ed. Modern Hebrew Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology (1966)
Joachim Neugroschel, ed. No Star Too Beautiful: An Anthology of Yiddish Stories from
1382 to the Present (2002)
Joachim Neugroschel, ed. The Shtetl: A Creative Anthology of Jewish Life in Eastern
Europe (1979)
Antony Polonsky and Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, ed. Contemporary Jewish Writing
in Poland: An Anthology (2001)
Ritchie Robertson, ed., The German-Jewish Dialogue (1999)
David Roskies, ed. Literature of Destruction: Jewish Responses to Catastrophes (1988)
Ilan Stravans, Jewish Stories (1998)
Susan Rubin Suleiman and Éva Forgács, ed. Contemporary Jewish Writing in Hungary:
An Anthology (2003)
Ruth R. Wisse, ed. The I. L. Peretz Reader (2002)

Website:
Rambi – Index of Articles on Jewish Studies http://jnul.huji.ac.il/rambi/

Suggested Materials
See above.
Course Requirements/Evaluations Criteria
Grades will be based on regular class attendance, participation in class discussions, a
presentation, and one research paper (15- 20 pages)

Assignments & Academic Calendar

August 22: Introduction

August 29: What is Jewish Literature?

Hana Wirt-Nesher, ed., What is Jewish Literature? (1994), 20-35, 53-66, 78-87 and 95-
115
Ruth R. Wisse, The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey Through Language and
Culture (2000), 1-29
David G. Roskies, “Modern Jewish Literature,” Burton L. Visotzky and David E.
Fishman, eds., From Mesopotamia to Modernity (1999), 233-254
Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Booking Passage: Exile and Homecoming in the Modern Jewish
Imagination (2000), 3-23
Michael P. Kraemer, “Race, Literary History, and the ‘Jewish Question’”; Bryan
Cheyette,” A Response’; Morris Dickstein, ‘A Response’; Anne Golomb Hoffman, ‘A
Response’; Hannah Naveh, “A Response”; Gershon Shaked, “A Response,” and Michael
P. Kraemer, “My Critics and Mai Nafka Mina: Further Reflections on Jewish Literary
Historiography,” Prooftexts 21 (2001), 287-349

September 5: German Jewish Literature

Heinrich Heine, “On Shylock,” Ritchie Robertson, ed., The German-Jewish Dialogue
(1999), 68-81
Heinrich Heine, “The Rabbi of Bacharach,” Jewish Stories and Hebrew Melodies by
Heinrich Heine (1987), 21-80
Jeffrey L. Sammons, ‘Heine’s Rabbi von Bacherah’: The Unresolved Tension’, German
Quarterly Review, 37 (1964), 26-38
Nils Roemer, “Jew or German? Heinrich Heine’s German-Jewish Reception in the
Nineteenth Century,” Germanic Review 74 (1999): 301-312.

September 12: Jewish Literature in an English Key

Grace Aguilar: Selected Writings, ed. by Michael Galchinsky (2003), 195-196, 200-206
The Complete Novels and Selected Writings of Amy Levy, 1861-1889 (1993), 518-520
Linda Hunt Beckman, Amy Levy: Her Life and Letters (2000), 117-152
Michael Galchinsky, The Origin of the Modern Jewish Woman Writer: Romance and
Reform in Victorian England (1996), selection
Israel Zangwill, The Melting Pot
(http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/wsharpe/citylit/Melting1.htm), act I and IV
Joseph H. Udelson, Dreamer of the Ghetto: The Life and Works of Israel Zangwill
(1990), 190-198
Nils Roemer, “Towards a Comparative Jewish Literature: National Literary Canons in
England and Germany,” Bryan Cheyette and Nadia Valman, eds., The Image of the Jew
in European Liberal Culture, 1789-1914 (2004), 27-45.

September 19: Fin-de-siecle Vienna

Arthur Schnitzler, The Road Into the Open (1992)
Theodor Herzl, Old-new Land (1997), chapter 1
Ritchie Robertson, The ‘Jewish Question’ in German Literature, 1749-1939:
Emancipation and Discontents (1999), 93-112
Carl Schorschke, Fin-de Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture (1980), 3-23 and 116-180
Daniel Boyarin, Unheroic Conduct: The Rise of Heterosexuality and the Invention of the
Jewish Man (1997), 271-312

September 26: In the Russian Empire

Judah Leib Gordon, “Awake My People!” Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz, eds., The Jew in
the Modern World (1995), 386
Saul Tchernikhovsky, “Eagle! Eagle over your mountains” and “He’s come! He’s come!”
T. Carmi, The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (1981), 517-520
Sha’ul Tchernichovsky, “Before the Statue of Apollo,” Saul Tschernichovsky (1968), 97-
98
Hayim Nahman Bialik, “On the Slaughter,” T. Carmi, ed., The Penguin Book of Hebrew
Verse (1981), 512-513
Yosef Hayyim Brenner, “Travel Notes,” Glenda Abramson, ed. The Oxford Book of
Hebrew Short Stories (1996), 70-84
I. L. Peretz, “Bonthsa the Silent,” Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of Jewish
Short Stories (1979), 17-25
Shalom Aleichem, “Hodel,” Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of Jewish Short
Stories (1979), 29-45
Mendele Mokher Sefarim, "Burned Out," Glenda Abrahmson, ed., The Oxford
Book of Hebrew Short Stories, 17-27
Dan Miron, A Traveler Disguised: The Rise of Yiddish Fiction in the Nineteenth-Century
(1996), 34-66
Watch: Fiddler on the Roof
Seth L. Wolitz, “The Americanization of Tevye or Boarding the Jewish Mayflower,”
American Quarterly 40, 4 (December, 1988): 514-536

October 3: Literature on the Move

Mary Antin, The Promised Land (1912), 163-179 (available at
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/antin/land/land.html), selection
Abraham Cahan, “Yekl,” and 'The Rise of David Levinsky', Milton Hindus, The Jewish
East Side, 1881-1924 (1996), 22-37
Dovid Bergelson, “Among Refugees”, The Shadows of Berlin (2005), 21-43
Joseph Roth, The Wandering Jews (2001), 5-118
Michael P. Kramer, “Assimilation in the Promised Land: Mary Antin and the Jewish
Origins of the American Self,” Prooftexts 18 (1998), 121-48
Sara Blair, “Whose Modernism Is It? Abraham Cahan, Fictions of Yiddish, and the
Contest of Modernity,” MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 51, 2 (Summer 2005): 258-284
Ruth R. Wisse, The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey Through Language and
Culture (2000), 267-293
Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, Booking Passage: Exile and Homecoming in the Modern
Jewish Imagination (2000), 269-273
Watch: Hester Street

October 10: In the Yishuv: The “new Jew”

Hayyim Hazaz, "Rachamim", in Glenda Abrahmson, ed., The Oxford Book of Hebrew
Short Stories, 94-101
Hazaz, “Sermon,” Robert Alter, ed. Modern Hebrew Literature (1975), 267-287
Yosef Haim Brenner, Breakdown and Bereavement (2003)
S. Y. Agnon, “Agunot," Robert Alter, ed. Modern Hebrew Literature (1975), 183-194
S. Y. Agnon, “The Lady and the Peddler,” Robert Alter, ed. Modern Hebrew Literature
(1975), 201-212
David Vogel, “My Childhood Cities,” T. Carmi, ed. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse
(1981), 527
A. Shlonsky, “Toil,” T. Carmi, ed. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (1981), 534
Guri, “Heritage,” T. Carmi, ed. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (1981), 565
Goldberg, “Tel-Aviv 1935,” T. Carmi, ed. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (1981),
553-554
Yael Zerubavel, Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National
Tradition (1995), 13-36, 79-95
Itamar Even-Zohar, “The Emergence of a Native Hebrew Culture in Palestine: 1882-
1948,” Jehuda Reinharz and Anita Shapira, eds. Essential Papers on Zionism (1996),
727-744

October 17: Jewish Literatures in the Interwar Period

Isaac Babel, Red Cavalry in Isaac Babel, Collected Works (1998), 91-233
Ruth R. Wisse, The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey Through Language and Culture
(2000), 131-162

October 24: Looking Back with Nostalgia

Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday
Ritchie Robertson, The ‘Jewish Question’ in German Literature, 1749-1939:
Emancipation and Discontents (1999), 112-129

October 31: American Jewish Literature I

Isaac Bashevis Singer, "Gimpel the Fool," "The Little Shoemakers," "Short Friday," "A
Friend of Kafka,” "A Day in Coney Island," "Old Love," Collected Stories (2004), 3-14,
38-56, 188-197, 277-286, 372-380, 421-433
Phillip Roth, "The Conversion of the Jews,” Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of
Jewish Short Stories, 189-205
Bernard Malamud, “Man in the Drawer,” Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of
Jewish Short Stories, 297-342
Rebecca Goldstein, "The Legacy of Raizel Kaidesh," Joyce Antler, ed., America and I:
Short Stories by Jewish American Women, 281-289
Cynthia Ozick, “The Pagan Rabbi,” Emanuel Litvinoff, ed., The Penguin Book of Jewish
Short Stories (1979), 247-279
Cynthia Ozick, “Envy: or Yiddish in America,” John Felstiner, ed. Jewish American
Literature: A Norton Anthology (2001), 858-896

November 7: American Jewish Writing II

Bernard Malamud, The Fixer (1966)
The Fixer (USA 1968), directed by John Frankenheimer
Albert S. Lindemann, The Jew Accused: Three Anti-Semitic Affairs, Dreyfus, Beilis and
Frank, 1894-1915 (1991), 174-193

November 14: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Western Europe

Agnes Desarthe, Five Photos of my Life (2001)
Katja Behrens, ‘Perfectly Normal,” Elena Lappin, ed. Jewish Voices, German Words
Growing up Jewish in Post war Germany and Austria (1994), 38-43
Barbara Honigmann, “A Love Out of Nothing,” Lappin, ed. Jewish Voices, German
Words Growing up Jewish in Post war Germany and Austria (1994), 65-79
Maxim Biller, ‘See Auschwitz and Die,“ Lappin, ed. Jewish Voices, German Words
Growing up Jewish in Post war Germany and Austria (1994), 210-225

November 21: Conclusion

Grading Policy

Active participation in class discussions (20%), one class presentation (10%), and one
paper (15-20 pages- 70%).

In addition, you must comply with university policies regarding dishonesty: cheating and
plagiarism.

Course Policies
Make-up exams
N/A

Extra Credit
N/A

Late Work
If you cannot turn in your paper by November 21, 2006, you will receive an X
(incomplete), and will not receive your grade until the beginning of the Spring semester.

Special Assignments
N/A
Class Attendance
Regular class attendance and participation in class discussions comprise 20% of the final
grade. Missing more than 3 classes will affect your grade.

Missing more than 3 classes will affect your grade.

Classroom Citizenship

See above.

Field Trip Policies / Off-Campus Instruction and Course Activities

N/A

Student Conduct & Discipline

The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at Dallas have rules and
regulations for the orderly and efficient conduct of their business. It is the responsibility
of each student and each student organization to be knowledgeable about the rules and
regulations which govern student conduct and activities. General information on student
conduct and discipline is contained in the UTD publication, A to Z Guide, which is
provided to all registered students each academic year.

The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline within the procedures of
recognized and established due process. Procedures are defined and described in the
Rules and Regulations, Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1,
Chapter VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and Activities of the
university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. Copies of these rules and regulations
are available to students in the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are
available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations (SU 1.602, 972/883-
6391).

A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the responsibilities of
citizenship. He or she is expected to obey federal, state, and local laws as well as the
Regents’ Rules, university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are subject to
discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether such conduct takes place on or
off campus, or whether civil or criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.

Academic Integrity

The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty.
Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work
done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high
standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work.

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, acts or omissions related
to applications for enrollment or the award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s
own work or material that is not one’s own. As a general rule, scholastic dishonesty
involves one of the following acts: cheating, plagiarism, collusion and/or falsifying
academic records. Students suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary
proceedings.

Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from
any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on
plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the resources of
turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective.

Email Use

The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and efficiency of communication
between faculty/staff and students through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises
some issues concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email exchange.
The university encourages all official student email correspondence be sent only to a
student’s U.T. Dallas email address and that faculty and staff consider email from
students official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This allows the
university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the identity of all individual
corresponding and the security of the transmitted information. UTD furnishes each
student with a free email account that is to be used in all communication with university
personnel. The Department of Information Resources at U.T. Dallas provides a method
for students to have their U.T. Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.

Withdrawal from Class

The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level
courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog.
Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle
withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot drop or withdraw any
student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not receive a final
grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled.

Student Grievance Procedures

Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on Student Services and
Activities, of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures.

In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades, evaluations, or other

fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is the obligation of the student first to make a
serious effort to resolve the matter with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or
committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter called “the respondent”).
Individual faculty members retain primary responsibility for assigning grades and
evaluations. If the matter cannot be resolved at that level, the grievance must be
submitted in writing to the respondent with a copy of the respondent’s School Dean. If
the matter is not resolved by the written response provided by the respondent, the student
may submit a written appeal to the School Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the
School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written appeal to the Dean of Graduate
or Undergraduate Education, and the deal will appoint and convene an Academic
Appeals Panel. The decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the
academic appeals process will be distributed to all involved parties.

Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in the Office of the Dean of
Students, where staff members are available to assist students in interpreting the rules and
regulations.

Incomplete Grade Policy

As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably
missed at the semester’s end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An
incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the
subsequent long semester. If the required work to complete the course and to remove the
incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified deadline, the incomplete grade is
changed automatically to a grade of F.

Disability Services
The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities educational
opportunities equal to those of their non-disabled peers. Disability Services is located in
room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to
6:30 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m.

The contact information for the Office of Disability Services is:

The University of Texas at Dallas, SU 22
PO Box 830688
Richardson, Texas 75083-0688
(972) 883-2098 (voice or TTY)

Essentially, the law requires that colleges and universities make those reasonable
adjustments necessary to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability. For example,
it may be necessary to remove classroom prohibitions against tape recorders or animals
(in the case of dog guides) for students who are blind. Occasionally an assignment
requirement may be substituted (for example, a research paper versus an oral presentation
for a student who is hearing impaired). Classes enrolled students with mobility
impairments may have to be rescheduled in accessible facilities. The college or
university may need to provide special services such as registration, note-taking, or
mobility assistance.

It is the student’s responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for such an
accommodation. Disability Services provides students with letters to present to faculty
members to verify that the student has a disability and needs accommodations.
Individuals requiring special accommodation should contact the professor after class or
during office hours.
Religious Holy Days
The University of Texas at Dallas will excuse a student from class or other required
activities for the travel to and observance of a religious holy day for a religion whose
places of worship are exempt from property tax under Section 11.20, Tax Code, Texas
Code Annotated.

The student is encouraged to notify the instructor or activity sponsor as soon as possible
regarding the absence, preferably in advance of the assignment. The student, so excused,
will be allowed to take the exam or complete the assignment within a reasonable time
after the absence: a period equal to the length of the absence, up to a maximum of one
week. A student who notifies the instructor and completes any missed exam or
assignment may not be penalized for the absence. A student who fails to complete the
exam or assignment within the prescribed period may receive a failing grade for that
exam or assignment.

If a student or an instructor disagrees about the nature of the absence [i.e., for the purpose
of observing a religious holy day] or if there is similar disagreement about whether the
student has been given a reasonable time to complete any missed assignments or
examinations, either the student or the instructor may request a ruling from the chief
executive officer of the institution, or his or her designee. The chief executive officer or
designee must take into account the legislative intent of TEC 51.911(b), and the student
and instructor will abide by the decision of the chief executive officer or designee.

Off-Campus Instruction and Course Activities

Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are subject to state law
and University policies and procedures regarding travel and risk-related activities.
Information regarding these rules and regulations may be found at the website address
given below. Additional information is available from the office of the school dean.
(http://www.utdallas.edu/Business Affairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.htm)

These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the
Professor.