UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
DEPARTMENT OF HEBREW AND SEMITIC STUDIES
ISRAELI
FICTION IN TRANSLATION
(Hebrew
343, Lit
Trans 367, Jewish 367)
Prof. Gilead Morahg
SYLLABUS
Spring Semester, 2005
General
This course relates major trends in Israeli fiction to central developments in Israeli history from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Discussions of representative literary works will be conducted in the context of the historical circumstances they reflect and respond to.
Lectures
Course lectures will combine historical background with discussions of the relationships between history and fiction as reflected in the assigned readings. Since the lecture material is not available in a published source, students are expected to attend all lectures and take good notes.
Bibliography
Some of the historical material incorporated in the lectures is drawn from the following English sources. These are not required readings, but students are encouraged to explore these books for further understanding and knowledge:
Solomon Grayzel, A History of the Contemporary Jews
Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea
Walter Laquer, A History of Zionism
Paul R. Mendes-Flohr, The Jews in the Modern World
Benny Morris, Righteous Victims
Howard M. Sachar, The Course of Modern Jewish History
Mayer Waxman, A History of Jewish Literature (Vols. 4-5)
Office Hours
My office is 1342 Van Hise. Phone: 262-2968; Email: gmorahg@wisc.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday
A reading schedule follows. Students are responsible for all the assigned readings. Every reading assignment must be completed by the end of the week indicated on the reading schedule. Short quizzes will be given regularly to determine students’ knowledge of the assigned readings. Keeping up with the readings is absolutely necessary for understanding the lectures and participating in class discussions.
Textbooks
A History of
Israeli Fiction in Translation, ed. Gilead
Morahg. An
anthology of Israeli writing, available at cost of production at Bob’s
Copy
Shop,
Quizzes and Exams
There will be a very short weekly quiz (usually on Tuesday) on the readings assigned for the previous week. The average score for the quizzes will counts as 20% of the final grade. The two lowest scores (including absences) will not be counted in the average.
There will be two exams:
*A one-hour mid-term exam, Thursday, March 12. the score for this exam will count for 30% of the final grade.
*A cumulative two-hour final exam, Monday,
May 9, at
READING SCHEDULE
Every reading must be completed by the end of the week indicated on the schedule.
Week 1:
Sachar, Chapter 1-2
Week 2:
Sachar, Chapter 3, pp. 36-52; 63-64.
“At Heavens Gate,” Asher Barash 3
Week 3:
Sachar, Chapter 4
“A Solution of the Jewish Question,” Theodore Herzl 135
Week 4:
Sachar, Chapter 5
“The Bilu Manefesto” 143
“Shimshon and Miriam Build Their Home” S. Zemah 9
Week 5:
Sachar, Chapter 6
“The Sermon,” Haim Hazaz 32
“The Guitar,” B. Kahana 42
Week 6:
“Nerves,” Y.H. Brenner 45
Week 7:
No new reading. Prepare for mid-term exam.
Week 8:
Sachar, Chapter 7
The Balfour Declaration 141
Week 9:
The Night of the Twentieth, Yehoshua Sobol 55
Week 10:
Sachar, Chapter 8
The Night of the Twentieth
Week 11:
Sachar, Chapter 9
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution
on
Such Were Our Fighters 77
“The Prisoner,” S. Yizhar 90
Week 12:
Sachar, Chapter 10
Proclamation
of the State of
“The Swimming Race,” Benjamin Tammuz 103
Week 13:
Sachar, Chapter 11
“An Unusual Deed,” Aharon Megged 113
Week 14:
Sachar, Chapter 12
“The Name,” Aharon Megged 125
Week 15:
Sachar,
Chapter 13
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Latest revision date: 12/23/2004 (cad)