Also, Ruth Wisse appears stupider and stupider to me every day. First she critiques gays for corrupting Yiddish, then speaks ignorantly about the women's movement. Wtf.
11/27/10
11/25/10
Several Things
- Today, the rest of the galus is nearly insignificant, and the main identities of Jews are either American or Israeli (Europe used to comprise another third). For this reason I think I will finally foray into Israeli sifrut: they are my corollary, the other half of my bi-polarity.
- Why do we write fiction? One reason is that there are certain historical events that can only be made meaningful or understood through literature. This is why my argument with the survivor of the Shoah was justified, that fiction about it isn't only a valid exploration, but it must be written. The lives of our literary ancestors find relevance in fiction--not in their fiction, necessarily, but in fiction about them. Dara Horn on Der Nister; Krause and Ozick on Bruno Schulz; Ozick on Glatshteyn; Englander on the martyred; and many more. Time has come for exploration on Stefan Zweig, his suicide, the letters he wrote that are probably lost, the books that Hitler burnt.
- America is unrivaled in writing cheesy holiday songs; Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful to be cognizant of history.
11/23/10
We Are All Max Brod
We read Kafka autobiographically because there is no other way. And it's not the readers' faults. This is just in the unconscious literary discourse. We simply know too much about him; so much so, that we can't help but see his father, his paranoia, even the status of Jews in Europe at the time, the closing of fate so to speak. If only there were more allusions to Buber in his work (it's in his diaries).
I also get shivers every time I think of Kafka and Rilke in the same room, perhaps saying hello to each other (unlikely), not knowing who the other is.
11/20/10
The point of Heschel
Can we analyze life/culture/anything, yet remain idealistically Romantic?
I read the memoir of a young ex-Hasidic woman. After essentially enlightening herself, she admits she "still found delight in Shabbos poetry." To quote David Roskies, her tateh's reaction would have been, "What?! Shikse! This is Shabbos! We bentsch likht! Poetry shmoetry. Shabbos joy is obvious!"
Perhaps her words were not chosen so carefully; they are quite dry. While I don't know completely what the young girl thought, I'd like to hope she was somewhat sincere: that yes, she does find some things about Shabbat spiritual, mystical, or maybe even unexplainable.
It goes without saying that the young girl's prose was incomparable to that of Heschel's, as was her intellect and erudition. Yet reading Heshel is to experience Shabbos joy, it is to know he experienced Shabbos joy--yet he talks cogently and academically about religious topics. Heschel finds the perfect balance between nakhes and analysis.
Maybe I should try to shlep through Derrida's ideas about "the joy of the text"; sometimes I do feel like analysis is a chore, and suffuses joy. Sometimes, however, I feel like Heschel, philosophizing about Shabbat.
I read the memoir of a young ex-Hasidic woman. After essentially enlightening herself, she admits she "still found delight in Shabbos poetry." To quote David Roskies, her tateh's reaction would have been, "What?! Shikse! This is Shabbos! We bentsch likht! Poetry shmoetry. Shabbos joy is obvious!"
Perhaps her words were not chosen so carefully; they are quite dry. While I don't know completely what the young girl thought, I'd like to hope she was somewhat sincere: that yes, she does find some things about Shabbat spiritual, mystical, or maybe even unexplainable.
It goes without saying that the young girl's prose was incomparable to that of Heschel's, as was her intellect and erudition. Yet reading Heshel is to experience Shabbos joy, it is to know he experienced Shabbos joy--yet he talks cogently and academically about religious topics. Heschel finds the perfect balance between nakhes and analysis.
Maybe I should try to shlep through Derrida's ideas about "the joy of the text"; sometimes I do feel like analysis is a chore, and suffuses joy. Sometimes, however, I feel like Heschel, philosophizing about Shabbat.
11/13/10
Ozick and Self-Haters
Ozick wants Babel to be as celebrated as Kafka (even though it won't happen). We should be asking why she isn't as celebrated as Philip Roth (even though we know it won't happen).
There is misogyny to be found in the consumption of Jewish fiction, despite the fact that more Jewish women than men are writing these days. Ozick is the self-hating sisters of Sara Smolinsky; Feministing says the same for Nicole Krauss, who isn't nearly as celebrated as her husband.
There is misogyny to be found in the consumption of Jewish fiction, despite the fact that more Jewish women than men are writing these days. Ozick is the self-hating sisters of Sara Smolinsky; Feministing says the same for Nicole Krauss, who isn't nearly as celebrated as her husband.
11/11/10
Related somewhat to Saul Bellow
I need to buy the new release of his letters. In one, he says something like "it's easy to get lost in the jungle of Jewish history; you need a machete."
His quote inspired me to think of this: but how do we deal with it? Do we rejoice? Or wallow in misery? Can we balance the two? To use a cliché: our history is an emotional roller-coaster.
I think this needs to be dealt with more directly in Jewish fiction: the theme that our history hones in on individuals, as if they're on the receiving end of a funnel, who must then reconcile the past--"weight of ancestry"-- with the immediate present. I think this is a job for the Rosenzweig/Lewisohn combo.
--To take another discrete example: Felix Mendelssohn. Is it sad that his grandfather was nearly an apostate and brought his family up as Christian? Sad as it is that Felix was baptized, he was still one of the greatest composers and instilled fear in Wagner. Felix Mendelssohn singularly represents this dichotomy, as do many Jews throughout history.
Perhaps the only character of Bellow's that grapples directly with this history is Sammler (unless you count Bellow himself, being Sammler's creator).
I still need to read Herzog. Humboldt was so good though.
His quote inspired me to think of this: but how do we deal with it? Do we rejoice? Or wallow in misery? Can we balance the two? To use a cliché: our history is an emotional roller-coaster.
I think this needs to be dealt with more directly in Jewish fiction: the theme that our history hones in on individuals, as if they're on the receiving end of a funnel, who must then reconcile the past--"weight of ancestry"-- with the immediate present. I think this is a job for the Rosenzweig/Lewisohn combo.
--To take another discrete example: Felix Mendelssohn. Is it sad that his grandfather was nearly an apostate and brought his family up as Christian? Sad as it is that Felix was baptized, he was still one of the greatest composers and instilled fear in Wagner. Felix Mendelssohn singularly represents this dichotomy, as do many Jews throughout history.
Perhaps the only character of Bellow's that grapples directly with this history is Sammler (unless you count Bellow himself, being Sammler's creator).
I still need to read Herzog. Humboldt was so good though.
11/10/10
Dumbass white folk
Person 1:
November 9 at 7:53am
November 9 at 7:53am
Hey y'all,
I know someone who is a totally insane Hare Krsna conspiracy theorist and she has this really anti-semitic sounding (I don't know much about it) belief about elitist Jews ruling the world? And apparently secretly running the war in Iraq? Particularly hilarious is that she once said to me, very enthusiastically, "It was the Jews who invaded Troy!" (apropos of nothing) and I was just wondering what you guys made of all that shit.
Here is a documentary which I haven't even clicked on, which she told me to watch, which I will probably never watch.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ring-of-power/
Best regards,
Alex
I know someone who is a totally insane Hare Krsna conspiracy theorist and she has this really anti-semitic sounding (I don't know much about it) belief about elitist Jews ruling the world? And apparently secretly running the war in Iraq? Particularly hilarious is that she once said to me, very enthusiastically, "It was the Jews who invaded Troy!" (apropos of nothing) and I was just wondering what you guys made of all that shit.
Here is a documentary which I haven't even clicked on, which she told me to watch, which I will probably never watch.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ring-of-power/
Best regards,
Alex
"Although geographically separate, the city-states of London, the Vatican, and the District of Colombia are one interlocking empire called Empire of The City. The flag of Washington’s District of Colombia has three red..."
Person 2:
No, dude, you seriously don't need to feel bad for admitting this. There is something seriously wrong with Hare Krishnas. I went with them to a festival in Atlanta over the summer and had a long conversation with the priest in which he eventually said that his beliefs about karmic retribution suggested to him that the Holocaust wouldn't have happened unless the Jews owed some cosmic karmic debt to the world. This priest is, I suspect, where Hannah gets most of her conspiracy theories.
Person 2:
oh man. i have to get ready for work so i can't check out this documentary (and don't know if i can bring myself to do it anyway), but what i will say is that the belief that elitist jews secretly run the world, control global finance, are behind the war in iraq, etc etc is one of the more popular anti-semitic beliefs, especially amongst people who would otherwise purport not to "have anything against" jewish people. i can find better sources later, but for quick reference:
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forged antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan to achieve global domination. The text was fabricated in the Russian Empire, and was first published in 1903. The text was translated into several languages and widely disseminated in the early part."
Person 3:
Person 1:Person 3:
November 10 at 3:10pm
I feel bad for admitting this, but it needs to be said: this is strike two against hare krishnas. I have now been twice personally offended by them. A couple months ago, one guy nearly accosted me in new york, and wouldn't let go of my hand while he tried to tell me how great the bhagavad gita was, how my life was off kilter, etc.
whatever, white folk. to be clear: what these two events represent have nothing to do with hare krishna-ism, but with dumbass white american kids' penchant for being duped into stupid, annoying shit.
and people wonder why jews are paranoid! in a parallel example, i loved all the stupid fucking white folk who flipped their shit during the 2008 election season upon hearing Rev. Wright. "What?! black people are suspicious of the oppressive white government?!"
So A., I guess I'm unsurprised, because Americans are idiots.
whatever, white folk. to be clear: what these two events represent have nothing to do with hare krishna-ism, but with dumbass white american kids' penchant for being duped into stupid, annoying shit.
and people wonder why jews are paranoid! in a parallel example, i loved all the stupid fucking white folk who flipped their shit during the 2008 election season upon hearing Rev. Wright. "What?! black people are suspicious of the oppressive white government?!"
So A., I guess I'm unsurprised, because Americans are idiots.
No, dude, you seriously don't need to feel bad for admitting this. There is something seriously wrong with Hare Krishnas. I went with them to a festival in Atlanta over the summer and had a long conversation with the priest in which he eventually said that his beliefs about karmic retribution suggested to him that the Holocaust wouldn't have happened unless the Jews owed some cosmic karmic debt to the world. This priest is, I suspect, where Hannah gets most of her conspiracy theories.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)