Culturi Ale Diasporei: Majoritar Şi Minoritar În Literaturile Evreiască Românească Şi

Culturi ale Diasporei: Majoritar şi minoritar în literaturile evreiască – românească şi evreiască – americană.

Proiect de cercetare exploratorie PN-II-ID-PCE-2007-1. Nr. 280 / 1 oct. 2007 [COD 1003]

BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project proposed for financingaims to contribute to the positive tackling of the complex problems created by the transition from an ethnically defined democracy to a liberal republican one, within Romanian post-communist, post-EU-accession framework, as it. Its main objective is to define the relationships between ethnic groups (Jewish / Roma/Black) and their host nations (American / Romanian), as reflected and artistically sublimated in literary texts produced by both mainstream and minority writers beginning with nineteenth century.

Briefly, the issues discussed are: minority group’s assimilation and dissimilation strategies, stereotypes and essentialising / antisemitic constructs developed by the mainstream, and instances of tolerance and commonality in both minority and mainstream literary texts. The comparative research method (postcolonial – Foucauldian perspective) used in this endeavour contraststwo minority literatures (Jewish-Romanian and Jewish-American), and their corresponding mainstream literary texts (Romanian and American) in point of their renditions of ethnic minority-national majority relationships.

By comparing two ethnic minorities to the two types of mainstream groups from two states (Romania and the U.S.A.) founded on opposite ideologies, we intend to obtain the necessary experimental framework for analysing the nature of these relationships, as well as for supporting our assumption that the literary text as a hybrid allows for the establishment of a dialogue between two totally opposing views, and for the deconstruction of essentialising ethnic narratives.

MAIN DELIVERABLES & OUTPUTS

Collection of essays on ‘The Margin and the Mainstream in Romanian culture’;

Collection of essays on ‘The Margin and the Mainstream in Jewish-Romanian and Jewish-American Literatures’ (the topic of 2010 conference);

Anthology of Jewish-Romanian writers, in English;

A minimum of 3 essays published in journals which are included / indexed in online academic international databases;

A minimum of 3 essays published in ISI journals.

MILESTONES

Stage 1: Finalization of Project Methodology & Project Management Activities

Stage 2: January – June 2008 (months 4 to 9)

Objective: identify and analyse strategies of assimilation as reflected in literary texts written by Jewish-American writers, in the context of their contemporary American discourses.

Indicative corpus:

Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus (1883); Henry Harland alias Sidney Luksa, Mrs. Peixada (1886), The Yoke of the Thorah (1887); Mary Antin, The Promised Land (1912); Abraham Cahan, The Rise of David Levinsky (1917); M.E. Ravage, An American in the Making (1917); Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers (1925), Hungry Hearts (1920), Salome of the Tenements(1922),Arrogant Beggar (1926); Art Spiegelman, Maus I, II,(1986, 1991); Melvin Jules Bukiet, After (1996).

Other activities:

-March 2008: roundtable discussions / workshop; topic: The Margin and the Mainstream in Romanian Culture; the first project initiative to publicly promote project activities, mainly addressed to Romanian academics and cultural media.

-June 2008 (month 9): develop and issue the first call for contributions on the topic of the workshop in March.

Stage 3: July – December 2008 (months 10 to 15)

Objective: identify and analyse strategies of assimilation as reflected in literary texts written by Jewish-Romanian writers, as well as their relationship with contemporary Romanian discourses (legislative; scientific e.g. eugenics; Romanian canonical literature; journalistic etc)

Indicative corpus:

V.Crasescu, Ovreiul (1898); Th. D. Sperantia, Ferghele (1902), Marcu Brociner, Ionel Fortunat (1903), A.L.Zissu, Samson si noul Dagon, (1939); Jewish Romanian contribution to the avant-garde and modernism (rooted in Galician Hassidism): B. Fundoianu, Marcel Iancu, M. H. Maxy, Iosif Ross, Sasa Pană, Ion Vinea, Stefan Roll, Ilarie Voronca, Victor Brauner (painting); I. Ludo,Domnisoara Africa (1935); Ion Calugaru, Copilaria unui netrebnic (1936), Ury Benador, Appasionatta, Gablonz Magazin Universel (1961), Ghetto veac XX (1934); I. Peltz, Foc in Hanul cu Tei, Calea Vacaresti; Norman Manea, Anii de uceniciei ai lui August Prostul (1979), Octombrie, ora opt (1981), Plicul negru (1986), Intoarcerea huliganului (2003).

Stage 4: January – June 2009 (months 16 to 21)

Objective: identify and analyse strategies of dissimilation in literary texts written by Jewish-Romanian and Jewish-American writers, as well as their relationship with contemporary mainstream discourses.

Indicative corpus:

Mihail Sebastian,De două mii de ani (1934), Cum am devenit huligan (1935); poetry written by A. Axelrod-Luca; Yiddish poets: Itic Manger, Eliezer Steinberg, Iacob Groper; Ludwig Lewisohn,Up Stream (1922), The Island Within (1928); Daniel Persky’s poems written in Hebrew (as well as some other 100 poets writing and publishing in Hebrew in Hadoar, in 1920s New York); Michael Gold, Jews Without Money (1930); Henry Roth, Call It Sleep (1934); Cynthia Ozick, The Shawl (1980).

Stage 5: July – December 2009 (month 22 to 27)

Objective: identify and analyse instances of stereotyping / anti-Semitism in American and Romanian mainstream-originating texts.

Indicative literary texts

Mihail Eminescu. Sărmanul Dionis, (1872), Iconostas şi Fragmentarium (1884); I. C. Fundescu, Jidovul(1888); Th. D. Sperantia, Ferghele (1902); James Fenimore Cooper, The Bravo (1831); Anonymous, Gwendolen: A Sequel to George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda (1878), The Oak-Openings (1848); Amelia E. Barr, Bow of Orange Ribbon (1886); John Richter Jones, The Quaker Soldier; dime novels (Albert W. Aiken, The Phantom Hand [1870], The Spotter Detective [1878], The White Witch [1871]); Hawthorne, Ethan Brand (1851); The Marble Faun (1860); Melville, Redburn vs. Clarel (1876); Mark TwainThe Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress/ Roughing It (1867); Henry James, The American Scene (1907); Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925); Ezra Pound; The Fugitives; Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1927) etc.

Other activities:

-July 2009 (month 22): publication and promotion of a volume of project-related contributions, announced in month 9

-August 2009 (month 23): issue of the first call for papers for the international conference to take place in month 30 (March 2010).

Stage 6: January – September 2010 (months 28 to 36)

Objectives:

To identify and analyse instances of tolerance / commonality in literary texts written by mainstream American and Romanian authors.

Indicative corpus:

I.L. Caragiale, “O faclie de pasti”; Liviu Rebreanu, “Itic Strul dezertor”; George CalinescuEnigma Otiliei (1932); Mihail Sadoveanu, Haia Sanis, “Pauna mica”, “Paştele blajinilor” (1935); Matei Cãlinescu, Viaţa si opiniile lui Zacharias Lichter (1969); Eusebiu Camilar, Negura (1949-50), Gala Galaction Jurnal (1942-44); the Fireside Poets (Lowell; Bryant; Whittier); American Renaissance (Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Hawthorne); Robert W. Chambers Cardigan (1901).

Toanalyse relationships between the Jewish minority and other minority groups, as represented in Jewish-Romanian and Jewish-American literary texts.

Indicative corpus:

John Stanford, The People from Heaven (1943); Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet (1970), Bernard Malamud, Angel Levine (1959), Black is My Favourite Color (1963), The Tenants (1971); Grace Paley, The Long-Distance Runner, Zagrowsky Tells (1983); Philip Roth, The Human Stain (2000); Gish JenMona in the Promised Land (1996); Denzi SennaCaucasia (1998); Rebecca WalkerBlack, White and Jewish (2001); Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man (2002).

Other activities:

-March 2010 (month 30): international conference

-end of June 2010 (month 33): receipt of conference papers to be selected, edited and published

-September 2010 (month 36): publication of conference volume and Jewish-Romanian writers’ anthology (translated into English).