Date of Award
Fall 2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Comparative Literature
First Advisor
Hever, Hannan
Abstract
This study delves into urban Jewish praxis and its impact on the production of urban space in three literary texts composed within the first four decades of the 20th century: the novella “Min HaMeitzar” [“Out of the Depths”] (1908) by Hebrew writer Yosef Haim Brenner, the novel Nokh alemen [“The End of Everything”] (1913) by Yiddish writer Dovid Bergelson, and the novel Hiob: Roman eines einfachen Mannes [“Job: The Story of a Simple Man”] (1930) by German-Jewish writer Joseph Roth. The literary readings presented in this study strive to elucidate the literary production of urban space as a means of universalizing, standardizing, and normalizing modern Jewish life, thus facilitating the transition from traditional Jewish particularistic, communal, and tribal existence towards the modern notion of citizenship. Simultaneously, the foundational premise underpinning these readings posits that the pursuit of this universalization—an abstract prospect detached from material existence—presents an inherent challenge rather than a definitive solution. Consequently, this study highlights the illusory belief in modern urban space as a neutral arena fostering a free and egalitarian Jewish public sphere.Each of the three texts discussed in this study captures the experiences of Jewish individuals across distinct urban centers—London, Kiev, and New York—while exploring the potential of these cities to serve as gateways for Jews to embrace modernity and liberate themselves from the constraints of traditional Jewish life. Within these narratives, the texts delve into the intricacies of Jewish urbanization and migration into modern urban spaces as potential solutions to the Jewish Question [Die Judenfrage]. This endeavor follows unique trajectories in its pursuit of Jewish integration into the broader narrative of modernity. Through their engagement with Jewish urbanization, the literary texts discussed in this project challenge the core spatial and political avenues of Jewish existence during the early 20th century, encompassing nationalism, territoriality, migration, cosmopolitanism, and Diasporism. Concurrently, these texts challenge the assumption that attaining citizenship within a nation-state—whether European or prospective Jewish—constitutes the ultimate culmination of modernity’s trajectory. In contrast to the prevailing aspiration for nation-state formation, Brenner, Bergelson, and Roth explore Jewish urbanization as a comprehensive embodiment of divergent and coexisting existential and spatial ideals, offering alternatives to the spatial pursuit of constructing a nation-state defined by homogeneity, authoritarianism, and territorial demarcation. Through their exploration of urban spaces, these literary texts contemplate the feasibility of establishing alternative models for modern Jewish existence and underscore the limitations intrinsic to the project of modernity when confronted with the complexities of identity politics.
Recommended Citation
Pridan, Ariel Yehudith, "Going Urban: The Jewish Experience of the Metropolis in Early 20th Century Literature" (2023). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 1133.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/1133
