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Those Who Should Have Been Ours

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246 American, European, and English Literaturewould annex to Helsinki - the Urals. 'Laval up the lamp-post, sing the childrenof Paris. To be sure, he won't give any light, but it will be bright. ' Of Franco'sgift to Hitler - 'an army composed mainly of law students and bootblacks.'Of the motivation of German armies in Russian weather: 'Tenants marchingto get warm rooms.'The book includes also letters from Russian soldiers addressed to theauthor. Here one can see definitely the effect which Ehrenburg's writings hadupon the military front; the voice receives its echo, and the echo is soundedby cannon.A great debt is owed in this war to those masters of rhetoric whoseinspiring periods stiffened morale and gave meaning and will to the UnitedNations crusade. Considered now, four years after their utterance, the speechesof Churchill read like what they truly were — the expression of the English-man's will-to-freedom, articulated in immortal language. In this respect, themetronomic style of Stalin's speech is at a decided disadvantage; that disad-vantage, however, is amply compensated for by the articles of Ehrenburg,which in a personal style succeeded in expressing the total personality of theRussian people, their indomitable will, their boundless courage, their love ofcountry.The translation by Alexander Kaun appears to us to be without fault.We judge this by no comparison with the original — alas, we know no Russian— but by the fact that the translation reads like an original, and that is alwaysa good measure of a translation's success.Those Who Should Have Been Ours 16 November 1945With the exception of the Yishuv, whose voice is padded by censorship andsealed with White Papers, it is, it would seem, only the English-speakingJewries who today, in our traumatic muteness, might perhaps supply ourpeople with utterance that is direct and authentic. Certainly it would be a longtime before the Jewries of Europe regain their speech; even for those whohave survived, the memory of horror still paralyzes the tongue. One wouldhave imagined, therefore, that American-Jewish writers, at least those of thelast decade, would, with compelling impulse, have seized upon what obviouslyappeared to be their destined function. The disappointing fact, however, isthat as one calls the roll of the younger generation of Jewish writers in thiscountry, and as one looks into the themes which evoke and the spirit whichmoves their efforts, one is shocked to discover that these men, whose un-doubted talents might certainly have contributed something towards the près-
© 2019 University of Toronto Press, Toronto

246 American, European, and English Literaturewould annex to Helsinki - the Urals. 'Laval up the lamp-post, sing the childrenof Paris. To be sure, he won't give any light, but it will be bright. ' Of Franco'sgift to Hitler - 'an army composed mainly of law students and bootblacks.'Of the motivation of German armies in Russian weather: 'Tenants marchingto get warm rooms.'The book includes also letters from Russian soldiers addressed to theauthor. Here one can see definitely the effect which Ehrenburg's writings hadupon the military front; the voice receives its echo, and the echo is soundedby cannon.A great debt is owed in this war to those masters of rhetoric whoseinspiring periods stiffened morale and gave meaning and will to the UnitedNations crusade. Considered now, four years after their utterance, the speechesof Churchill read like what they truly were — the expression of the English-man's will-to-freedom, articulated in immortal language. In this respect, themetronomic style of Stalin's speech is at a decided disadvantage; that disad-vantage, however, is amply compensated for by the articles of Ehrenburg,which in a personal style succeeded in expressing the total personality of theRussian people, their indomitable will, their boundless courage, their love ofcountry.The translation by Alexander Kaun appears to us to be without fault.We judge this by no comparison with the original — alas, we know no Russian— but by the fact that the translation reads like an original, and that is alwaysa good measure of a translation's success.Those Who Should Have Been Ours 16 November 1945With the exception of the Yishuv, whose voice is padded by censorship andsealed with White Papers, it is, it would seem, only the English-speakingJewries who today, in our traumatic muteness, might perhaps supply ourpeople with utterance that is direct and authentic. Certainly it would be a longtime before the Jewries of Europe regain their speech; even for those whohave survived, the memory of horror still paralyzes the tongue. One wouldhave imagined, therefore, that American-Jewish writers, at least those of thelast decade, would, with compelling impulse, have seized upon what obviouslyappeared to be their destined function. The disappointing fact, however, isthat as one calls the roll of the younger generation of Jewish writers in thiscountry, and as one looks into the themes which evoke and the spirit whichmoves their efforts, one is shocked to discover that these men, whose un-doubted talents might certainly have contributed something towards the près-
© 2019 University of Toronto Press, Toronto

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Introduction xi
  4. Acknowledgments xxv
  5. Biographical Chronology xxvii
  6. 1. Jewish Literature And Culture
  7. Koheleth. Review Of Koheleth: The Man And The Book 3
  8. Baal Shem In Modern Dress. Review Of Lyric 6
  9. White Magic. Review Of The Zohar In Moslem And Christian Spain 10
  10. Chaim Nachman Bialik 13
  11. Music Hath Charm. Review Of Jewish Music And Other Essays On Musical Topics 19
  12. The Art Of The Passover Haggadah 23
  13. The Last Of The Badchanim - Shloime Shmulevitz 26
  14. Saadyah Gaon 29
  15. Bialik Thou Shouldst Be Living At This Hour 32
  16. Saul Tchernichovsky 36
  17. The Thirteenth Apostle? 37
  18. Palestine Moving-Pictures 40
  19. Had Not Thy Torah Been My Delight ... Review Of From The Nazi Vale Of Tears 41
  20. Some Praise The Lord - Some Pass The Ammunition. Review Of The Sabbath Prayer Book Published By The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 42
  21. The Snows Of Yesteryear. Review Of My Lexicon 46
  22. The Poetry Which Is Prayer. Review Of Líder Un Loiben 49
  23. An Encyclopedic Work. Review Of The Mishna 52
  24. 'Apples Of Gold In Pictures Of Silver' Review Of Milan Dikduki ('Lexicon Of Hebrew Homonyms') 54
  25. The Snows Of Yesteryear. Review Of Burning Lights 57
  26. Look On This Picture And On This ... Review Of A Palestine Picture Book And Polish Jews: A Pictorial Record 60
  27. Only Half the Language of Faith. Review of The Language of Faith: Selected Jewish Prayers 63
  28. Baedeker: Kasrilevke. Review of Inside Kasrilevke 67
  29. The Dybbuk. Text of a Trans-Canada Radio Talk 70
  30. A Chassidic Anthology. Review of Tales of the Hasidim: The Later Masters 74
  31. Melech Grafstein's Sholom Aleichem. Review of A Sholom Aleichem Panorama 77
  32. Poet of a World Passed By. Review of Sefer Yiddish 79
  33. The Art of Hertz Grosbard 81
  34. Poems of Yehoash. Review of Poems of Yehoash 83
  35. Of Hebrew. Calligraphy Review of The Israel Art Haggadah 85
  36. In Memoriam: J.I. Segal 87
  37. 2. Jewish Folk Culture
  38. Jewish Folk-Songs 93
  39. Of Hebrew Humor 99
  40. On Translating the Yiddish Folk-Song 109
  41. The Yiddish Proverb 112
  42. 3. The Bible
  43. The Bible as Literature 125
  44. The Gesture of the Bible 131
  45. The Bible Manuscripts 133
  46. The Bible's Archetypical Poet 143
  47. 4. Literature And The Arts
  48. From The McGill Daily 151
  49. Proletarian Poetry 161
  50. National Anthems 163
  51. Queen Mab and Mickey Mouse 166
  52. Annotation on Shapiro's Essay on Rime 169
  53. A Definition of Poetry? A Reply to a Request 177
  54. Sha! Sha! Shostakovitch! 181
  55. Marginalia 182
  56. Book Reviewing, in Seven Easy Lessons 193
  57. The Usurper 195
  58. In Memoriam: Alexander Bercovitch 198
  59. The Case of Jascha Heifetz 199
  60. 5. Canadian Literature
  61. Mortal Coils. Review Of The Shrouding 203
  62. The Decencies Had Perished With The Stukas'. Review Of Dunkirk 205
  63. The Poetry Of A.J.M. Smith. Review Of News Of The Phoenix 209
  64. New Writers Series, No. 1. Review Of Here And Now 212
  65. Writing In Canada. A Reply To A Questionnaire 216
  66. 6. American, European, And English Literature
  67. A Curse on Columbus. Review of Jews Without Money 225
  68. The Jew in English Poetry 226
  69. Robinson Jeffers - Poet-Fascist? Review of Be Angry at the Sun 232
  70. Is This the Jew the Authors Drew? 235
  71. The Heart of Europe. Review of Heart of Europe 238
  72. Maimonides in Hollywood. Review of A Guide for the Bedevilled 241
  73. Grand Invective. Review of The Tempering of Russia 244
  74. Those Who Should Have Been Ours 246
  75. Rilke and His Translators. Review of Thirty-one Poems 251
  76. Departure and Arrival Review of Thieves in the Night 255
  77. Knut Hamsun 258
  78. Isaak Babel Review of Benya Krik, the Gangster, and Other Stories 259
  79. That Rank Picture 262
  80. Cantabile. Review of The Cantos of Ezra Pound 264
  81. Of Jewish Existentialism. Review of Antisémite and Jew 266
  82. T.S. Eliot and the Nobel Prize 268
  83. Hemlock and Marijuana. Review of In the Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces 275
  84. Old Ez and His Blankets 278
  85. The Masked Yeats Review of Yeats: The Man and the Masks, The Golden Nightingale and The Permanence of Yeats 282
  86. Homage to Ludwig Lewisohn 284
  87. 7. James Joyce's Ulysses
  88. The Oxen of the Sun 289
  89. The Black Panther. A Study in Technique 326
  90. A Shout in the Street. An Analysis of the Second Chapter of Joyce's Ulysses 342
  91. Textual Notes and Emendations 367
  92. Notes 377
  93. Index 415
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https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487589325-066

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Introduction xi
  4. Acknowledgments xxv
  5. Biographical Chronology xxvii
  6. 1. Jewish Literature And Culture
  7. Koheleth. Review Of Koheleth: The Man And The Book 3
  8. Baal Shem In Modern Dress. Review Of Lyric 6
  9. White Magic. Review Of The Zohar In Moslem And Christian Spain 10
  10. Chaim Nachman Bialik 13
  11. Music Hath Charm. Review Of Jewish Music And Other Essays On Musical Topics 19
  12. The Art Of The Passover Haggadah 23
  13. The Last Of The Badchanim - Shloime Shmulevitz 26
  14. Saadyah Gaon 29
  15. Bialik Thou Shouldst Be Living At This Hour 32
  16. Saul Tchernichovsky 36
  17. The Thirteenth Apostle? 37
  18. Palestine Moving-Pictures 40
  19. Had Not Thy Torah Been My Delight ... Review Of From The Nazi Vale Of Tears 41
  20. Some Praise The Lord - Some Pass The Ammunition. Review Of The Sabbath Prayer Book Published By The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation 42
  21. The Snows Of Yesteryear. Review Of My Lexicon 46
  22. The Poetry Which Is Prayer. Review Of Líder Un Loiben 49
  23. An Encyclopedic Work. Review Of The Mishna 52
  24. 'Apples Of Gold In Pictures Of Silver' Review Of Milan Dikduki ('Lexicon Of Hebrew Homonyms') 54
  25. The Snows Of Yesteryear. Review Of Burning Lights 57
  26. Look On This Picture And On This ... Review Of A Palestine Picture Book And Polish Jews: A Pictorial Record 60
  27. Only Half the Language of Faith. Review of The Language of Faith: Selected Jewish Prayers 63
  28. Baedeker: Kasrilevke. Review of Inside Kasrilevke 67
  29. The Dybbuk. Text of a Trans-Canada Radio Talk 70
  30. A Chassidic Anthology. Review of Tales of the Hasidim: The Later Masters 74
  31. Melech Grafstein's Sholom Aleichem. Review of A Sholom Aleichem Panorama 77
  32. Poet of a World Passed By. Review of Sefer Yiddish 79
  33. The Art of Hertz Grosbard 81
  34. Poems of Yehoash. Review of Poems of Yehoash 83
  35. Of Hebrew. Calligraphy Review of The Israel Art Haggadah 85
  36. In Memoriam: J.I. Segal 87
  37. 2. Jewish Folk Culture
  38. Jewish Folk-Songs 93
  39. Of Hebrew Humor 99
  40. On Translating the Yiddish Folk-Song 109
  41. The Yiddish Proverb 112
  42. 3. The Bible
  43. The Bible as Literature 125
  44. The Gesture of the Bible 131
  45. The Bible Manuscripts 133
  46. The Bible's Archetypical Poet 143
  47. 4. Literature And The Arts
  48. From The McGill Daily 151
  49. Proletarian Poetry 161
  50. National Anthems 163
  51. Queen Mab and Mickey Mouse 166
  52. Annotation on Shapiro's Essay on Rime 169
  53. A Definition of Poetry? A Reply to a Request 177
  54. Sha! Sha! Shostakovitch! 181
  55. Marginalia 182
  56. Book Reviewing, in Seven Easy Lessons 193
  57. The Usurper 195
  58. In Memoriam: Alexander Bercovitch 198
  59. The Case of Jascha Heifetz 199
  60. 5. Canadian Literature
  61. Mortal Coils. Review Of The Shrouding 203
  62. The Decencies Had Perished With The Stukas'. Review Of Dunkirk 205
  63. The Poetry Of A.J.M. Smith. Review Of News Of The Phoenix 209
  64. New Writers Series, No. 1. Review Of Here And Now 212
  65. Writing In Canada. A Reply To A Questionnaire 216
  66. 6. American, European, And English Literature
  67. A Curse on Columbus. Review of Jews Without Money 225
  68. The Jew in English Poetry 226
  69. Robinson Jeffers - Poet-Fascist? Review of Be Angry at the Sun 232
  70. Is This the Jew the Authors Drew? 235
  71. The Heart of Europe. Review of Heart of Europe 238
  72. Maimonides in Hollywood. Review of A Guide for the Bedevilled 241
  73. Grand Invective. Review of The Tempering of Russia 244
  74. Those Who Should Have Been Ours 246
  75. Rilke and His Translators. Review of Thirty-one Poems 251
  76. Departure and Arrival Review of Thieves in the Night 255
  77. Knut Hamsun 258
  78. Isaak Babel Review of Benya Krik, the Gangster, and Other Stories 259
  79. That Rank Picture 262
  80. Cantabile. Review of The Cantos of Ezra Pound 264
  81. Of Jewish Existentialism. Review of Antisémite and Jew 266
  82. T.S. Eliot and the Nobel Prize 268
  83. Hemlock and Marijuana. Review of In the Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces 275
  84. Old Ez and His Blankets 278
  85. The Masked Yeats Review of Yeats: The Man and the Masks, The Golden Nightingale and The Permanence of Yeats 282
  86. Homage to Ludwig Lewisohn 284
  87. 7. James Joyce's Ulysses
  88. The Oxen of the Sun 289
  89. The Black Panther. A Study in Technique 326
  90. A Shout in the Street. An Analysis of the Second Chapter of Joyce's Ulysses 342
  91. Textual Notes and Emendations 367
  92. Notes 377
  93. Index 415
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