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22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986)

  • Sabrina Völz
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Handbook of the American Short Story
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Handbook of the American Short Story

Abstract

Bernard Malamud is considered a fine novelist, a prominent figure of the Jewish Renaissance, and a master of short fiction. Much of the literature on Malamud’s short stories has focused on his first two collections, The Magic Barrel (1958) - for which he won the National Book Award - and Idiots First (1963). This chapter heeds Michael Basseler and Ansgar Nünning’s call to “strike a balance between wellknown, oft-anthologized stories and some lesser known ones,” to avoid the “incestuous” repetition of scholarly inquiry into only a handful of short stories (Basseler and Nünning 2011, 4). While any attempt to classify Malamud’s fifty-five short stories written between 1940 and 1984 will have its obvious limitations, this study pairing “The Jewbird” (1963) - a well-researched story - with “My Son the Murderer” (1968) - one of Malamud’s most overlooked stories (Marx 2014) - seeks to shed new light on the artistic and thematic span of Malamud’s short story writing produced during a decade raging with turmoil. Themes, such as father-son relationships and suffering, will also be explored. “The Jewbird” treats the interplay between elements of the fantastic and ordinary as well as characters who elicit both humor and pity, topics familiar to both the humanist’s readership and scholars. In contrast, “My Son the Murderer” does not fit into scholarly categorizations of Malamud’s short stories, such as those dealing with New York Jews, poor immigrants, artists and authors, Italians in Rome, or the relationship between African Americans and Jews. “My Son the Murderer” explores the breakdown in communication between father and son, their diverging views on life’s purpose, and the despair of a young man called to serve his country in a war that he does not endorse.

Abstract

Bernard Malamud is considered a fine novelist, a prominent figure of the Jewish Renaissance, and a master of short fiction. Much of the literature on Malamud’s short stories has focused on his first two collections, The Magic Barrel (1958) - for which he won the National Book Award - and Idiots First (1963). This chapter heeds Michael Basseler and Ansgar Nünning’s call to “strike a balance between wellknown, oft-anthologized stories and some lesser known ones,” to avoid the “incestuous” repetition of scholarly inquiry into only a handful of short stories (Basseler and Nünning 2011, 4). While any attempt to classify Malamud’s fifty-five short stories written between 1940 and 1984 will have its obvious limitations, this study pairing “The Jewbird” (1963) - a well-researched story - with “My Son the Murderer” (1968) - one of Malamud’s most overlooked stories (Marx 2014) - seeks to shed new light on the artistic and thematic span of Malamud’s short story writing produced during a decade raging with turmoil. Themes, such as father-son relationships and suffering, will also be explored. “The Jewbird” treats the interplay between elements of the fantastic and ordinary as well as characters who elicit both humor and pity, topics familiar to both the humanist’s readership and scholars. In contrast, “My Son the Murderer” does not fit into scholarly categorizations of Malamud’s short stories, such as those dealing with New York Jews, poor immigrants, artists and authors, Italians in Rome, or the relationship between African Americans and Jews. “My Son the Murderer” explores the breakdown in communication between father and son, their diverging views on life’s purpose, and the despair of a young man called to serve his country in a war that he does not endorse.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110587647-023

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
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