Jan Kühne | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (original) (raw)
Books by Jan Kühne
Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is among the most famous German-language Zionist dramatists. His hist... more Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is among the most famous German-language Zionist dramatists. His history extends from earliest foundation of the Zionist movement to its realization in the Jewish State, a process to which Gronemann contributed substantially. His complete dramas – excluding comedies – reflect this history and are analyzed in detail for the first time in this book.
M.A.-Thesis, Hebrew University Jerusalem, 2011
Written on the eve of the French Revolution, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's dramatic poem "Nathan the... more Written on the eve of the French Revolution, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's dramatic poem "Nathan the Wise" became a paradigm for modern Jewish identity in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Germany and Eastern Europe. According to the Israeli theatre scholar Gad Kaynar, ?there is hardly anything more absurd than to speak about the reception of Lessing in Israel,? (Lessing Yearbook 2000). This distinguished M.A. thesis attempts to do precisely that. Through personal interviews, hitherto inaccessible archive material, and the study of a broad range of documents and articles, it presents a fascinating overview of the reception of "Nathan the Wise" in Israel. Describing the personal stories underlying productions by Shimon Finkel, Joseph Zur, Joshua Sobol, and Doron Tavory, this original research offers insight into over forty years of Israeli history and its changing relationships with Germany and Austria. The book contains the first-time publication of the play "Signed with Blood, or: Bloody Nathan," an adaptation of Lessing's poem by the renowned Israeli dramatist, Joshua Sobol.
Peer Reviewed Articles by Jan Kühne
Naharaim, 2024
This article explores the history of the pre-state Zionist judiciary, focusing on Sammy Gronemann... more This article explores the history of the pre-state Zionist judiciary, focusing on Sammy Gronemann’s instrumental role as its high judge and chief architect from 1911 to 1946. In doing so, it addresses a significant gap in existing research. Despite extensive attention that has been paid to his contributions to German and Hebrew literature, Gronemann’s legal profession and judicial endeavors within the World Zionist Organization (WZO) have been largely overlooked in academic discourse. To provide context and illuminate Gronemann’s influential role, the first section of this article offers a concise historical account of the pre-state Zionist judiciary’s genesis. The second section delves into Gronemann’s disillusionment and suppressed critique of the WZO’s democratization initiatives. This is evident in his private writings, including a hitherto unknown letter correspondence with Theodor Heuss, the first president of West Germany. The exploration undertaken unveils the moral authority of Gronemann as representative of the institutionalized Zionist conscience, a role he embodied as the chief judge and architect of the Zionist pre-state judiciary.
Judaica. Neue digitale Folge
This article focuses on the beginnings of the aphoristic writings of Austrian-Israeli Hebrew poet... more This article focuses on the beginnings of the aphoristic writings of Austrian-Israeli Hebrew poet and rabbi Elazar Benyoëtz (*1937). It draws on two novel sources: his personal library, which is one of the last private book collections in Israel to contain the German-Jewish literary canon, and a first draft of his autobiography. This article follows the first-time analysis of reading traces from the library’s marginalia and paraphernalia; five case studies progressively trace Benyoëtz’s transformation in the 1960s and 1970s from solely a Hebrew poet into the most influential contemporary aphorist in the German language. In addition, the article presents points of departure for future research into the genesis of the Archiv Bibliographia Judaica, the largest encyclopaedia to date on Jewish authors writing in German.
Naharaim
This article focuses on trans-linguistic relationships between the German aphoristic writings of ... more This article focuses on trans-linguistic relationships between the German aphoristic writings of Israeli, Hebrew poet, and rabbi Elazar Benyoëtz (*1937) and his personal library, which is one of the last and largest private book collections in Israel to contain the German-Jewish literary canon. By reading traces from the library’s marginalia and paraphernalia, analyzed here for the first time, the article presents five case studies that sketch Benyoëtz’s transformation during the 1960s and 1970s from a Hebrew poet into the most influential contemporary writer of aphorisms in German. The article also presents points of departure for future research into the development of the Archiv Bibliographia Judaica, the largest encyclopedia of Jewish authors in the German language.
Yearbook for European Jewish Literature Studies
Zukunft der Sprache – Zukunft der Nation?: Verhandlungen des Jiddischen und Jüdischen im Kontext der Czernowitzer Sprachkonferenz, 2022
The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, 2021
Hebrew–German homophonic translation as a poetic writing technique is a still largely unknown phe... more Hebrew–German homophonic translation as a poetic writing technique is a still largely unknown phenomenon in German–Hebrew Studies. In my research dedicated to mapping the diversity of multilingual modalities in modern German and Hebrew literature, I am particularly interested in German–Hebrew homophony. Thus, in my paper, I analyse German–Hebrew homophony in Pagis’ Hebrew poems ‘Ein Leben’ and ‘Written in Pencil in a Sealed Railway-Car’ (כתוב בעפרון בקרון החתום), while showing the deep impression that Ernst Jandl’s avant-garde poetry (‘oberflächenübersetzung’) has left upon Pagis’ oeuvre. In light of my homophonic analysis, I offer access to a hitherto unnoticed deep layer of German–Hebrew dialogue in Pagis’ poetry, which offers novel interpretations that are unique in the corpus of German-Jewish and Hebrew literature.
Yearbook for European Jewish Literature Studies | Volume 6: Issue 1, 2019
Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German, 2019
In fall 2016, a group of scholars gathered at the 40th German Studies Association convention in S... more In fall 2016, a group of scholars gathered at the 40th German Studies Association convention in San Diego, CA, in a space called the Eaton Room, for a seminar on multilingualism in German Studies. After three days sharing this space of dialogue, members returned home to their various teaching and research settings and, reflecting further on insights developed out of the group's collaborative work in the GSA seminar space, each formulated the maxims on multilingualism in German Studies presented in this article. Though the 10 subsections derive inevitably from the work and insights of these individual scholars and their programs of research, the entirety of the manuscript was counter‐read, commented, and emended by each member of the authorial collective, at several stages of the composition process, before and after blind peer‐review. Thus, in the spirit of collaborative inquiry – and indeed of multilingual practice itself – the members consider The Eaton Group to be the singular though multiple author of this piece. As such, The Eaton Group offer this collaboratively developed constellation of premises, provisos, and prospects for the future of multilingualism in German Studies teaching and research, not as a consistent and sequential protocol of directives but as a set of aspirations and provocations with which language, literature, and culture teachers may engage as they make their own curricular and pedagogical decisions.
Lessing Yearbook, 2018
Which of the three religions – Judaism, Christianity, or Islam – is the most sensible and, theref... more Which of the three religions – Judaism, Christianity, or Islam – is the most sensible and, therefore, convincing? This question is at the heart of Nathan der Weise, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s humanist play. As a representative of the generation prior to Goethe and Schiller, Lessing is one of the quintes- sential representatives of the Enlightenment. His play inaugurated a critical discourse that prevails to this day,1 and has undergone a revival on German stages during the past two decades. While being relevant to our concerns today, Lessing’s play also perpetuates a specific tradition through its en- lightened interpretation of an ancient literary trope – the so-called ring par- able – which is meant to address and answer the polemic question, whose religion is supreme?
This paper addresses questions pertaining to the theatrical reception of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan der Weise () in non-German and non-Christian contexts. Through an analysis of what we assume to be its first professional trilingual performance – by Ofira Henig in Israel () – this paper points to the potential obstacles and possibilities regard- ing the play’s aesthetical stageability and ideological adaptability for today’s audiences. I intend to highlight the relevance of the Israeli reception for a yet-to-be-conducted research project on the Arabic response to the play, while criticizing a recent German trend to adapt Nathan to the context of encounters between the Western and the Muslim world. My thoughts aim to provide an incipient contribution to the developing discourse on multi- lingualism in contemporary theatre.
![Research paper thumbnail of ספרות יהודית גרמנית בתקופת היישוב ובמדינת ישראל 2017-1933 [German-Jewish Literature in Mandate Palestine and Israel (1933-2017)]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/58171510/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Chidushim - Journal of the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, 2016
This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive historical overview of the development o... more This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive historical overview of the development of German language literature by European Jewish immigrants in Mandate Palestine and in Israel, from 1933 to the present day. This historiography, including periodization, is based upon sources pertaining to collective and partly institutionalized literary products and organizations such as anthologies, newspapers, literary circles, publishing houses, writers’ associations, and so forth.
German-Jewish literature in Palestine/Israel is presented as a diverse and unique liminal phenomenon – a literature positioned betwixt German-Jewish origins and Hebrew-Zionist aspirations. Likewise, this paper shows how, on account of its idiosyncrasies, the literature in question poses a challenge to existing categorizations in corresponding German, Hebrew, and English academic discourses, such as those which address Exil - or Minor - Literature. While elaborating upon these existing theoretical approaches, a new concept is introduced – that of Neo-Territorialization.
The paper takes coherent stock of existing publications, and while arranging them systematically it challenges existing depictions. It points to prevalent scholarly lacuna with regard to the aesthetics, poetics, and politics of the literature in question. For example, the suppression, displacement and fleeting foothold of the German language in Jewish settlements of Mandate Palestine (the yishuv) and in Israel are documented, as well as interactions between Hebrew and German literature.
Encompassing ninety years of literary production, this critical historical and socio-literary survey concludes with short introductions to the major representatives of the literature in question. It points to fields of future research, emphasizes further potential insights, and highlights still latent relationships with other pertinent discourses.
This paper presents the latest research on Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952), a key figure of early Ger... more This paper presents the latest research on Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952), a key figure of early German Zionism and Hebrew Theatre. His transition from Germany to the Mandate of Palestine in 1936 influenced his literary oeuvre and transformed its technique of inter-cultural mediation and its satirical humour. In Palestine/Israel Gronemann became a successful playwright, contributing to the emerging modern Hebrew culture by writing its first milestone in comedy, King Solomon and Shalmai, the Cobbler (1942). My reading focuses on its dramaturgical strategy, whose roots I analyse and describe as ‘dialectical empathy’ in a comedy of errors between the stock-characters of a Jew and a Nazi from 1937 (Jacob and Christian).
Keywords: Comedy; drama; empathy; German–Jewish literature; Hebrew theatre; humour; identity; Zionism
Aschkenas 24(2), 2014
Biblical death penalty becomes practically inapplicable through talmudic legislation, though it i... more Biblical death penalty becomes practically inapplicable through talmudic legislation, though it is supported by the authority of the Torah. Consequently, death penalty remains a potential means of punishment, at least theoretically so, constituting a motif in the dramatic texts of the German-Jewish Zionist, lawyer and writer Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952). Following his immigration to Tel Aviv in 1936, difficulties in the application of this topos and of »Talion« in general become apparent in his dramatic works, particularly with regard to Germany. In face of the emerging horrors of the Shoah, Gronemann struggled to preserve the humanist-talmudic moment of the suspension of death penalty. He did so despite Zionist attempts to return to the biblical origins of Judaism, with its implied denial of cultural achievement in the Diaspora.
The German Archive of the Hebrew Habima: Bureaucracy and Identity, Naharaim 7(1-2), 2013
The administrative archive of Habima, nowadays Israel's national theater, resides at the Israeli ... more The administrative archive of Habima, nowadays Israel's national theater, resides at the Israeli center for the documentation of the performing arts at Tel Aviv University. The majority of the documents, which date from the 1920s and early 1930s, were written in German, and involve prominent German Jewish businessmen and intellectuals. This archival corpus is surprising, because the profile of Habima is generally associated with the Eastern European-Soviet theatrical heritage and with the revival of Hebrew. This article seeks to present the nature of this collection and to reevaluate its contribution to the study of German Jewry as well as to the history of Hebrew theatre.
Editor by Jan Kühne
Sammy Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 6, 2023
Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is one of the most outstanding Zionist authors and satirists to have ... more Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is one of the most outstanding Zionist authors and satirists to have written in German. This volume, no. 6 of the Critical Edition of Writings by Sammy Gronemann, collects his short prose, mainly texts from his estate, part of which has been lost. It includes previously unpublished short stories, fragments of novels and dramas, essays written within the scope of his political, legal, and cultural work, as well as poems, couplets, parodies, and satires from all stages of his life.
![Research paper thumbnail of Sammy Gronemann [Critical Edition]: Tohuwabohu](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/62979169/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 2019
Sammy Gronemann’s first literary success was his 1920 bestseller Tohuwabohu. This satirical novel... more Sammy Gronemann’s first literary success was his 1920 bestseller Tohuwabohu. This satirical novel is a period piece that marks the start of Gronemann’s literary career and presents a humorous portrait of Jewish life in Berlin after the turn of the century. Albert Einstein considered it a “masterpiece” because of its perspicacious and lucid depiction of the many facets of German Judaism.
Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe
Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Acad. advice by Mittelmann, Hanni / Schlör, Joachim)
Volume 2
Gronemann, Sammy: Tohuwabohu
Ed. by Kühne, Jan and Schlör, Joachim
Series: Conditio Judaica 92/2
DE GRUYTER OLDENBOURG
![Research paper thumbnail of Sammy Gronemann [Critical Edition]: Hawdoloh und Zapfenstreich](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/62979222/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Sammy Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 2020
In Havdalah and the Grand Tattoo, Gronemann applied his acute observational skills and talent for... more In Havdalah and the Grand Tattoo, Gronemann applied his acute observational skills and talent for narrative to set down his recollections from the Eastern Front during World War I. He had served in the press bureau in Kowno and Vilna, where he also began his friendship with Arnold Zweig. The book was a bestseller, filled with entertaining anecdotes, and contributed to a reappraisal of Eastern European Jewry.
Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe
Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Acad. advice by Mittelmann, Hanni / Schlör, Joachim)
Volume 3
Sammy Gronemann: Hawdoloh und Zapfenstreich – Erinnerungen an die ostjüdische Etappe 1916–1918
Ed. by Jan Kühne and Hanni Mittelmann
Series: Conditio Judaica 92/3
DE GRUYTER OLDENBOURG
![Research paper thumbnail of Sammy Gronemann [Critical Edition]: Gesammelte Dramen [Collected Dramatic Works]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/58171592/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Sammy Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 2018
Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Aca... more Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe
Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Acad. advice by Mittelmann, Hanni / Schlör, Joachim)
For the first time, Volume 1 compiles all extant dramatic works by Sammy Gronemann published in German. They include the Purim play Haman’s Flight written for Martin Buber (1900), Gronemann’s first successful comedy The Wise Man and the Fool, written around 1940 in Tel Aviv, a work that, after Gronemann’s death, went on in Hebrew translation and with songs by Nathan Alterman to become one of the first successful musicals in the Israeli theater.
Band 1
Gronemann, Sammy: Gesammelte Dramen
[Collected Dramatic Works]
Ed. by Kühne, Jan
Series: Conditio Judaica 92/1
DE GRUYTER OLDENBOURG
Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is among the most famous German-language Zionist dramatists. His hist... more Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is among the most famous German-language Zionist dramatists. His history extends from earliest foundation of the Zionist movement to its realization in the Jewish State, a process to which Gronemann contributed substantially. His complete dramas – excluding comedies – reflect this history and are analyzed in detail for the first time in this book.
M.A.-Thesis, Hebrew University Jerusalem, 2011
Written on the eve of the French Revolution, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's dramatic poem "Nathan the... more Written on the eve of the French Revolution, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's dramatic poem "Nathan the Wise" became a paradigm for modern Jewish identity in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Germany and Eastern Europe. According to the Israeli theatre scholar Gad Kaynar, ?there is hardly anything more absurd than to speak about the reception of Lessing in Israel,? (Lessing Yearbook 2000). This distinguished M.A. thesis attempts to do precisely that. Through personal interviews, hitherto inaccessible archive material, and the study of a broad range of documents and articles, it presents a fascinating overview of the reception of "Nathan the Wise" in Israel. Describing the personal stories underlying productions by Shimon Finkel, Joseph Zur, Joshua Sobol, and Doron Tavory, this original research offers insight into over forty years of Israeli history and its changing relationships with Germany and Austria. The book contains the first-time publication of the play "Signed with Blood, or: Bloody Nathan," an adaptation of Lessing's poem by the renowned Israeli dramatist, Joshua Sobol.
Naharaim, 2024
This article explores the history of the pre-state Zionist judiciary, focusing on Sammy Gronemann... more This article explores the history of the pre-state Zionist judiciary, focusing on Sammy Gronemann’s instrumental role as its high judge and chief architect from 1911 to 1946. In doing so, it addresses a significant gap in existing research. Despite extensive attention that has been paid to his contributions to German and Hebrew literature, Gronemann’s legal profession and judicial endeavors within the World Zionist Organization (WZO) have been largely overlooked in academic discourse. To provide context and illuminate Gronemann’s influential role, the first section of this article offers a concise historical account of the pre-state Zionist judiciary’s genesis. The second section delves into Gronemann’s disillusionment and suppressed critique of the WZO’s democratization initiatives. This is evident in his private writings, including a hitherto unknown letter correspondence with Theodor Heuss, the first president of West Germany. The exploration undertaken unveils the moral authority of Gronemann as representative of the institutionalized Zionist conscience, a role he embodied as the chief judge and architect of the Zionist pre-state judiciary.
Judaica. Neue digitale Folge
This article focuses on the beginnings of the aphoristic writings of Austrian-Israeli Hebrew poet... more This article focuses on the beginnings of the aphoristic writings of Austrian-Israeli Hebrew poet and rabbi Elazar Benyoëtz (*1937). It draws on two novel sources: his personal library, which is one of the last private book collections in Israel to contain the German-Jewish literary canon, and a first draft of his autobiography. This article follows the first-time analysis of reading traces from the library’s marginalia and paraphernalia; five case studies progressively trace Benyoëtz’s transformation in the 1960s and 1970s from solely a Hebrew poet into the most influential contemporary aphorist in the German language. In addition, the article presents points of departure for future research into the genesis of the Archiv Bibliographia Judaica, the largest encyclopaedia to date on Jewish authors writing in German.
Naharaim
This article focuses on trans-linguistic relationships between the German aphoristic writings of ... more This article focuses on trans-linguistic relationships between the German aphoristic writings of Israeli, Hebrew poet, and rabbi Elazar Benyoëtz (*1937) and his personal library, which is one of the last and largest private book collections in Israel to contain the German-Jewish literary canon. By reading traces from the library’s marginalia and paraphernalia, analyzed here for the first time, the article presents five case studies that sketch Benyoëtz’s transformation during the 1960s and 1970s from a Hebrew poet into the most influential contemporary writer of aphorisms in German. The article also presents points of departure for future research into the development of the Archiv Bibliographia Judaica, the largest encyclopedia of Jewish authors in the German language.
Yearbook for European Jewish Literature Studies
Zukunft der Sprache – Zukunft der Nation?: Verhandlungen des Jiddischen und Jüdischen im Kontext der Czernowitzer Sprachkonferenz, 2022
The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, 2021
Hebrew–German homophonic translation as a poetic writing technique is a still largely unknown phe... more Hebrew–German homophonic translation as a poetic writing technique is a still largely unknown phenomenon in German–Hebrew Studies. In my research dedicated to mapping the diversity of multilingual modalities in modern German and Hebrew literature, I am particularly interested in German–Hebrew homophony. Thus, in my paper, I analyse German–Hebrew homophony in Pagis’ Hebrew poems ‘Ein Leben’ and ‘Written in Pencil in a Sealed Railway-Car’ (כתוב בעפרון בקרון החתום), while showing the deep impression that Ernst Jandl’s avant-garde poetry (‘oberflächenübersetzung’) has left upon Pagis’ oeuvre. In light of my homophonic analysis, I offer access to a hitherto unnoticed deep layer of German–Hebrew dialogue in Pagis’ poetry, which offers novel interpretations that are unique in the corpus of German-Jewish and Hebrew literature.
Yearbook for European Jewish Literature Studies | Volume 6: Issue 1, 2019
Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German, 2019
In fall 2016, a group of scholars gathered at the 40th German Studies Association convention in S... more In fall 2016, a group of scholars gathered at the 40th German Studies Association convention in San Diego, CA, in a space called the Eaton Room, for a seminar on multilingualism in German Studies. After three days sharing this space of dialogue, members returned home to their various teaching and research settings and, reflecting further on insights developed out of the group's collaborative work in the GSA seminar space, each formulated the maxims on multilingualism in German Studies presented in this article. Though the 10 subsections derive inevitably from the work and insights of these individual scholars and their programs of research, the entirety of the manuscript was counter‐read, commented, and emended by each member of the authorial collective, at several stages of the composition process, before and after blind peer‐review. Thus, in the spirit of collaborative inquiry – and indeed of multilingual practice itself – the members consider The Eaton Group to be the singular though multiple author of this piece. As such, The Eaton Group offer this collaboratively developed constellation of premises, provisos, and prospects for the future of multilingualism in German Studies teaching and research, not as a consistent and sequential protocol of directives but as a set of aspirations and provocations with which language, literature, and culture teachers may engage as they make their own curricular and pedagogical decisions.
Lessing Yearbook, 2018
Which of the three religions – Judaism, Christianity, or Islam – is the most sensible and, theref... more Which of the three religions – Judaism, Christianity, or Islam – is the most sensible and, therefore, convincing? This question is at the heart of Nathan der Weise, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s humanist play. As a representative of the generation prior to Goethe and Schiller, Lessing is one of the quintes- sential representatives of the Enlightenment. His play inaugurated a critical discourse that prevails to this day,1 and has undergone a revival on German stages during the past two decades. While being relevant to our concerns today, Lessing’s play also perpetuates a specific tradition through its en- lightened interpretation of an ancient literary trope – the so-called ring par- able – which is meant to address and answer the polemic question, whose religion is supreme?
This paper addresses questions pertaining to the theatrical reception of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan der Weise () in non-German and non-Christian contexts. Through an analysis of what we assume to be its first professional trilingual performance – by Ofira Henig in Israel () – this paper points to the potential obstacles and possibilities regard- ing the play’s aesthetical stageability and ideological adaptability for today’s audiences. I intend to highlight the relevance of the Israeli reception for a yet-to-be-conducted research project on the Arabic response to the play, while criticizing a recent German trend to adapt Nathan to the context of encounters between the Western and the Muslim world. My thoughts aim to provide an incipient contribution to the developing discourse on multi- lingualism in contemporary theatre.
Chidushim - Journal of the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, 2016
This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive historical overview of the development o... more This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive historical overview of the development of German language literature by European Jewish immigrants in Mandate Palestine and in Israel, from 1933 to the present day. This historiography, including periodization, is based upon sources pertaining to collective and partly institutionalized literary products and organizations such as anthologies, newspapers, literary circles, publishing houses, writers’ associations, and so forth.
German-Jewish literature in Palestine/Israel is presented as a diverse and unique liminal phenomenon – a literature positioned betwixt German-Jewish origins and Hebrew-Zionist aspirations. Likewise, this paper shows how, on account of its idiosyncrasies, the literature in question poses a challenge to existing categorizations in corresponding German, Hebrew, and English academic discourses, such as those which address Exil - or Minor - Literature. While elaborating upon these existing theoretical approaches, a new concept is introduced – that of Neo-Territorialization.
The paper takes coherent stock of existing publications, and while arranging them systematically it challenges existing depictions. It points to prevalent scholarly lacuna with regard to the aesthetics, poetics, and politics of the literature in question. For example, the suppression, displacement and fleeting foothold of the German language in Jewish settlements of Mandate Palestine (the yishuv) and in Israel are documented, as well as interactions between Hebrew and German literature.
Encompassing ninety years of literary production, this critical historical and socio-literary survey concludes with short introductions to the major representatives of the literature in question. It points to fields of future research, emphasizes further potential insights, and highlights still latent relationships with other pertinent discourses.
This paper presents the latest research on Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952), a key figure of early Ger... more This paper presents the latest research on Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952), a key figure of early German Zionism and Hebrew Theatre. His transition from Germany to the Mandate of Palestine in 1936 influenced his literary oeuvre and transformed its technique of inter-cultural mediation and its satirical humour. In Palestine/Israel Gronemann became a successful playwright, contributing to the emerging modern Hebrew culture by writing its first milestone in comedy, King Solomon and Shalmai, the Cobbler (1942). My reading focuses on its dramaturgical strategy, whose roots I analyse and describe as ‘dialectical empathy’ in a comedy of errors between the stock-characters of a Jew and a Nazi from 1937 (Jacob and Christian).
Keywords: Comedy; drama; empathy; German–Jewish literature; Hebrew theatre; humour; identity; Zionism
Aschkenas 24(2), 2014
Biblical death penalty becomes practically inapplicable through talmudic legislation, though it i... more Biblical death penalty becomes practically inapplicable through talmudic legislation, though it is supported by the authority of the Torah. Consequently, death penalty remains a potential means of punishment, at least theoretically so, constituting a motif in the dramatic texts of the German-Jewish Zionist, lawyer and writer Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952). Following his immigration to Tel Aviv in 1936, difficulties in the application of this topos and of »Talion« in general become apparent in his dramatic works, particularly with regard to Germany. In face of the emerging horrors of the Shoah, Gronemann struggled to preserve the humanist-talmudic moment of the suspension of death penalty. He did so despite Zionist attempts to return to the biblical origins of Judaism, with its implied denial of cultural achievement in the Diaspora.
The German Archive of the Hebrew Habima: Bureaucracy and Identity, Naharaim 7(1-2), 2013
The administrative archive of Habima, nowadays Israel's national theater, resides at the Israeli ... more The administrative archive of Habima, nowadays Israel's national theater, resides at the Israeli center for the documentation of the performing arts at Tel Aviv University. The majority of the documents, which date from the 1920s and early 1930s, were written in German, and involve prominent German Jewish businessmen and intellectuals. This archival corpus is surprising, because the profile of Habima is generally associated with the Eastern European-Soviet theatrical heritage and with the revival of Hebrew. This article seeks to present the nature of this collection and to reevaluate its contribution to the study of German Jewry as well as to the history of Hebrew theatre.
Sammy Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 6, 2023
Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is one of the most outstanding Zionist authors and satirists to have ... more Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) is one of the most outstanding Zionist authors and satirists to have written in German. This volume, no. 6 of the Critical Edition of Writings by Sammy Gronemann, collects his short prose, mainly texts from his estate, part of which has been lost. It includes previously unpublished short stories, fragments of novels and dramas, essays written within the scope of his political, legal, and cultural work, as well as poems, couplets, parodies, and satires from all stages of his life.
Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 2019
Sammy Gronemann’s first literary success was his 1920 bestseller Tohuwabohu. This satirical novel... more Sammy Gronemann’s first literary success was his 1920 bestseller Tohuwabohu. This satirical novel is a period piece that marks the start of Gronemann’s literary career and presents a humorous portrait of Jewish life in Berlin after the turn of the century. Albert Einstein considered it a “masterpiece” because of its perspicacious and lucid depiction of the many facets of German Judaism.
Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe
Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Acad. advice by Mittelmann, Hanni / Schlör, Joachim)
Volume 2
Gronemann, Sammy: Tohuwabohu
Ed. by Kühne, Jan and Schlör, Joachim
Series: Conditio Judaica 92/2
DE GRUYTER OLDENBOURG
Sammy Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 2020
In Havdalah and the Grand Tattoo, Gronemann applied his acute observational skills and talent for... more In Havdalah and the Grand Tattoo, Gronemann applied his acute observational skills and talent for narrative to set down his recollections from the Eastern Front during World War I. He had served in the press bureau in Kowno and Vilna, where he also began his friendship with Arnold Zweig. The book was a bestseller, filled with entertaining anecdotes, and contributed to a reappraisal of Eastern European Jewry.
Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe
Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Acad. advice by Mittelmann, Hanni / Schlör, Joachim)
Volume 3
Sammy Gronemann: Hawdoloh und Zapfenstreich – Erinnerungen an die ostjüdische Etappe 1916–1918
Ed. by Jan Kühne and Hanni Mittelmann
Series: Conditio Judaica 92/3
DE GRUYTER OLDENBOURG
Sammy Gronemann Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 2018
Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Aca... more Gronemann, Sammy: Kritische Gesamtausgabe
Ed. by Kühne, Jan (In collab. with Hessing, Jakob; Acad. advice by Mittelmann, Hanni / Schlör, Joachim)
For the first time, Volume 1 compiles all extant dramatic works by Sammy Gronemann published in German. They include the Purim play Haman’s Flight written for Martin Buber (1900), Gronemann’s first successful comedy The Wise Man and the Fool, written around 1940 in Tel Aviv, a work that, after Gronemann’s death, went on in Hebrew translation and with songs by Nathan Alterman to become one of the first successful musicals in the Israeli theater.
Band 1
Gronemann, Sammy: Gesammelte Dramen
[Collected Dramatic Works]
Ed. by Kühne, Jan
Series: Conditio Judaica 92/1
DE GRUYTER OLDENBOURG
Judaica. Neue digitale Folge
Die "Autobiographischen Mitteilungen" von Elazar Benyoëtz erlauben erstmals einen Einblick in sei... more Die "Autobiographischen Mitteilungen" von Elazar Benyoëtz erlauben erstmals einen Einblick in seine bislang unbekannt gebliebene frühe, hebräische Schaffensphase. Diese Phase endete mit seinem Aufbruch aus Israel, um über Wien gegen Ende 1962 nach Westdeutschland zu reisen. Im Rahmen eines Forschungsaufenthalts initiierte er in Frankfurt am Main zusammen mit Renate Heuer das Archiv Bibliographia Judaica und verwandelte sich nicht zuletzt dank ihrer Unterstützung von einem hebräischen Dichter in einen deutschsprachigen Aphoristiker.¹ In den "Autobiographischen Mitteilungen" zeichnen sich diese Entwicklungen bereits ab; sie erlauben Einblicke in die israelische Vorgeschichte des Archivs Bibliographia Judaica und die hebräischen Anfänge seiner aphoristisch wie mikroessayistisch geprägten, deutschsprachigen Autorschaft.² Benyoëtz schrieb seine "autobiographische Skizze", wie er diesen Text über den eigenen Werdegang auch nannte, ursprünglich auf Hebräisch und noch vor seiner Abreise aus Israel.³ Der israelische Dichter Jacob Mittelmann übersetzte sie ins Deutsche und half Benyoëtz, mit dieser Selbstdarstellung und deren Vermittlung erste Kontakte für seinen Forschungsaufenthalt, aber auch seinen späteren literarischen Werdegang im
Archiv Bibliographia Judaica – Deutschsprachiges Judentum Online
Die Vorgeschichte der "Bibliographia Judaica" ist eng verbundenmit Leben und Werk des hebräischen... more Die Vorgeschichte der "Bibliographia Judaica" ist eng verbundenmit Leben und Werk des hebräischen Dichters und deutschsprachig-jüdischen Aphoristikers Elazar Benyoëtz (*1937), den Renate Heuer 1981 als Initiator dieser vonihr realisierten "Bibliographia Judaica" nannte, ausd er das voni hr herausgegebene "Lexikon deutsch-jüdischer Autoren"¹ hervorging: Den erstenA nstoß zu dieser Arbeit ["Bibliographia Judaica"]g ab Elazar Benyoëtz, der als freier Schriftsteller Anfangder sechzigerJ ahre ausI srael nach Europa gekommen war,um Gedichtbeiträgefür eine deutsch-hebräische Lyrikanthologie zu sammeln, die er herausgeben wollte. Er suchten ach wissenschaftlichen Hilfsmitteln und mußte feststellen, daß es kein deutschsprachigesW erk gab, das ausreichende Vorarbeiten bot.[ … ]S ow ar es naheliegend für Benyoëtz, dieses Desiderat der Forschungz ub ezeichnenu nd sich für die Entstehung eines grundlegenden Werkes einzusetzen. Er warb in der Öffentlichkeit für seinen Plan, indem er Deutsche aufforderte,ihn zu verwirklichen: denn dies sei eine Sache, die von ihnen selbst aufgegriffen und durchgeführt werdenmüsse.² Trotz dieser Übertragung der Verantwortungf ür die Aufarbeitung der nationalsozialistischen deutschenV ergangenheit an die Deutschen bliebB enyoëtz,a ls
Performance Research, 2022
Enzyklopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur, Bd. 6 (Hg. Dan Diner), 2015
Mit tohu wa-vohu (wüst und wirr; Gen 1,2; Jer 4,23) wird in der hebräischen Bibel (Tanach) ein my... more Mit tohu wa-vohu (wüst und wirr; Gen 1,2; Jer 4,23) wird in der hebräischen Bibel (Tanach) ein mythischer, unfertiger Urzustand der Erde zu Beginn der Schöpfungsgeschichte bezeichnet. Der deutsch-jüdische Jurist und Schriftsteller Sammy Gronemann (1875–1952) griff dieses Wort im Titel seines 1920 in Berlin erschienenen satirischen Zeitromans Tohuwabohu auf, worin er er sich kritisch mit dem Verhältnis von deutschen Juden zu Juden aus dem östlichen Europa befasste. In seinen literarischen Arbeiten, die von juristischen und religiösen Motiven durchzogen sowie von scharfsinnigem und versöhnlichem Humor geprägt sind, widmete sich Gronemann Fragen der Assimilation und der Begründung eines neuen jüdischen Selbstbewusstseins. Nach seiner Übersiedlung nach Palästina 1936 trugen seine in deutscher Sprache verfassten Komödien erheblich zur Entwicklung des hebräischen Theaters bei.
Einleitung Kontrastiert man die Überführung von Herzls Leichnam von Wien nach Jerusalem im Jahre ... more Einleitung
Kontrastiert man die Überführung von Herzls Leichnam von Wien nach Jerusalem im Jahre 1949 mit der von Sammy Gronemann im Jahre 1904 literarisch antizipierten, worin diese als „Heimkehr“ Herzls gelesen wird, so wird deutlich, dass Gronemann nicht nur die ‚Rückführung‘ von Herzls natürlichem Körper beschreibt, sondern eine metaphorische Remigration des politischen Körpers der Judenheit nach Palästina/Erez Israel. An der institutionellen Leitung dieses Körpers – dem zionistischen Kongress – war der Rabbinersohn Gronemann (1875–1952) als langjähriger oberster Richter des Kongressgerichts (1911–1946) beteiligt gewesen und wurde als „konstitutionelles Gewissen der zionistischen Bewegung“ bezeichnet. Martin Buber erkannte früh Gronemanns schriftstelle- risches Talent. 1920 gelang Gronemann sein schriftstellerisches Debut mit dem satirischen Roman Tohuwabohu, dem weitere erfolgreiche Bücher folgten. Nach seiner im Anschluss an die Flucht aus Berlin im Jahre 1933 erfolgten Emigration nach Palästina (Tel Aviv) im Jahre 1936 gelang ihm mit Der Weise und der Narr ein bleibender Beitrag zum Repertoire des hebräischen Theaters, das, in der Übersetzung Nathan Altermans, „das erfolgreichste hebräische Stück aller Zeiten“ wurde.
Gronemann hob sich aus der Generation seiner pathosgeladenen zionisti- schen Zeitgenossen durch einen satirischen Humor hervor, der ihm u. a. den Titel eines „Schalom Aleichem der Jeckes“, bzw. eines „Aristophanes der zionisti schen Bewegung“ eintrug. Aus diesem Grund suchte ihn Herzl im Jahre 1904 als Chefredakteur für die zionistische Satirezeitschrift Schlemiel zu engagieren, was Gronemann aufgrund seiner vielen Verpflichtungen und Tätigkeiten aus Zeit- gründen zwar ablehnte; dennoch sind seine Beiträge in fast jeder Ausgabe zu finden. Gronemann erfreute sich somit einer, innerhalb der zionistischen Be- wegung einzigartigen Narrenfreiheit. Diese Vertrautheit ermöglicht dem Leser Gronemanns eine neue Perspektive auf den Begründer des politischen Zionismus, Theodor Herzl, die im Folgenden, im Moment der literarischen und tat- sächlichen posthumen Remigration anhand von drei Aspekten erörtert werden soll: 1. in Bezug auf Gronemanns Kurzgeschichte Theodor Herzls Heimkehr aus dem Jahre 1904, 2. hinsichtlich Gronemanns theatralischer Wahrnehmung von Herzls Stellung im zionistischen Kongress, sowie abschließend und 3. im Ver- gleich von Gronemanns Hagiografie mit der David Ben-Gurions.
Lessing und das Judentum. Lektüren, Dialoge, Kontroversen im 18. und 19. Jahrhundert , 2015
Dieser Aufsatz geht der Frage nach, ob im Rahmen der israelischen Nathan-Rezeption von einer Ause... more Dieser Aufsatz geht der Frage nach, ob im Rahmen der israelischen Nathan-Rezeption von einer Auseinandersetzung mit der deutschen humanistischen Tradition gesprochen werden kann. Vorab werden wesentliche Stationen der hebräisch-jüdischen Nathan-Rezeption in Europa skizziert (1779–1948).
Tel Aviver Jahrbuch für deutsche Geschichte
The stage presems things that are make-believe; presumably life presents things that are real and... more The stage presems things that are make-believe; presumably life presents things that are real and sometimes not well rchearsed.«* Einleitung Sammy Gronemann (1875-1952), geboren im westpreußischen Strasburg (Brodnica, Wojewödztwo Pomorskie) und in Tel Aviv verstorben, war ein orthodoxer Jude und Zionist der ersten Stunde, eine zu Beginn des 20. Jahr hunderts durchaus unüblichc Mischung zweier ideologischer Positionen, die sich zu diesem Zeitpunkt noch diametral gegenüberstanden. Von Beruf war Gronemann Rechtsanwalt und Richter, dessen juristische Ausbildung ihm später in leitenden Funktionen der zionistischen Bewegung gute Dienste leis ten sollte. Darüber hinaus aber war Gronemann Schriftsteller und Dramatiker. Mit seiner Prosa schuf er ein Denkmal für die Juden des wilhelminischen Kaiser reichs und der Weimarer Republik, mit seinen Dramen eroberte er sich einen beständigen Platz im Repertoire des israelischen Theaters. Sein bleibender, moderner und weiterhin aktueller Beitrag zur deutsch-jüdischen und israeli schen Kulturgeschichte soll im Folgenden skizziert werden. Dabei sollen die Grundzüge seiner literarischen und historischen Position zwischen den Kul turen verortet werden, denn wie viele andere deutsch-jüdische Schriftsteller und Dramatiker konnte sich Gronemann nie ausschließlich der hebräischen Kultur des Jischuw3 hingeben. Er blieb stets der deutschen Sprache und Kultur verhaftet, war aber andererseits schon seit seiner Studentenzeit in Deutschland ein aktives Mitglied der jüdischen Nationalbewegung und seit dem, zumindest ideologisch, Zion näher als Berlin. Es ist daher nicht ver-1 Dieser Beitrag beruht auf einer Präsentation für die Theaterkonferenz »Neubewer tung des modernistischen Theaters: Zwischen Utopie und Apokalypse«, die im I'ebruar 2012 an der Hebräischen Universität in Jerusalem stattfand. Eine hebräische Fassung dieser Präsentation ist erschienen in: Theatron. An Israeli Quarterly fo r Contemporary Thealre 34 (2012). 2 Erving Goffman, Preface, in: ders., The Presentation o f Seif in Everyday Life, Edin burgh 1956, vi. 3 Der Jischuw (hebr. Siedlung) bezeichnet die jüdische Bevölkerung Palästinas in der Zeit zwischen der ersten Alija (Einwanderungswelle) im Jahre 1882 und der israeli schen Staatsgründung von 1948. wunderlich, dass Gronemann -nie ganz in Zion angekommen und dennoch immer schon da -gerade dem Theater eine zentrale Vermittlerrolle zudachtc, einem Ort, der gleichzeitig »hier« und »andernorts« ist. Dabei sah er als »Liebhaberder Muse Thalia«, den Worten eines Zeitgenossen zufolge, »nicht so sehr im Theater die Welt wie in der Welt das Theater«.4 Im Zuge der zunehmenden jüdischen Assimilation im Laufe des 19. Jahr hunderts entstanden hinsichtlich der Transformation und Stabilisierung von gesellschaftlichen Rollen und Identitäten neue und komplexe Probleme, bei spielsweise die des Identitätsverlustes und der doppelten Identität. In dem unter anderen von Steven E. Aschheim beschriebenen Phänomen der jüdi schen Metamorphose in der Moderne5 wird die zunehmende Infragestellung der Legitimität deutsch-jüdischen Selbstverständnisscs deutlich, als mit der Demokratie der Weimarer Republik auch die pluralistische Rollenverteilung in der modernen Gesellschaft ihren Boden verlor. Vor dem Hintergrund des Zusammenbruchs rechtsstaatlicher Politik, sozio-kultureller Beziehungen und ästhetischer Repräsentationen gerieten Selbstbilder und Fremdwahrneh mungen miteinander in Konflikt. Die dabei wachsende Unsicherheit er reichte einen bisher unbekannten Höhepunkt und weckte zunehmend das Bedürfnis, sich des eigenen Selbst und Existenzrechts zu versichern und es zu stärken. Deutsche Juden, die nach Palästina einwanderten, um den zionisti schen Traum zu verwirklichen, ließen dieses Problem damit allerdings nicht hinter sich. Es harrt seiner Klärung bis heute.
PaRDeS
This paper provides a historical overview of the polemic discourse, which developed in over 2000 ... more This paper provides a historical overview of the polemic discourse, which developed in over 2000 years out of the biblical Esau/ Jacob narrative up to the early twentieth century, and highlights some of its outstanding and hitherto unrecognized ramifications; among these, the comedy Jakob und Christian (1937) by the German Zionist Sammy Gronemann (1875-1952). The play is analysed in detail and it is shown how Esau and Jacob are transformed by Gronemann into symbolic representatives for Ashkenazy Jewry and national-socialist Germanhood. Gronemann dissolves the traditional polarising dichotomy between Jacob and Esau with the help of a rabbinic axiom for Purim, in order to advance a humanistic perspective through empathetic dialectics. This innovation is being described, as well as its reception in Vienna and Tel Aviv.
Handbuch der deutsch-jüdischen Literatur, Ed. Hans Otto Horch, 2015
Yearbook for European Jewish Literature Studies
Handbuch der deutsch-jüdischen Literatur
German Studies Review, 2018
Conference in memoriam Tuvia Rübner
תיאטרון [Theatron] 46, 2019
אחרית דבר ל Frankl, Viktor: סינכרוניזציה בבירקנוואלד. ועידה מטאפיזית [Synchronisation in Birkenwa... more אחרית דבר ל
Frankl, Viktor: סינכרוניזציה בבירקנוואלד. ועידה מטאפיזית [Synchronisation in Birkenwald. Eine metaphysische Konferenz]. In: Theatron 46 (2019), 24-62.
![Research paper thumbnail of Viktor Frankl: סינכרוניזציה בבירקנוואלד. ועידה מטאפיזית [Synchronisation in Birkenwald. Eine metaphysische Konferenz]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/62979543/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](תיאטרון [Theatron], 46, 2019
Frankl, Viktor: סינכרוניזציה בבירקנוואלד. ועידה מטאפיזית [Synchronisation in Birkenwald. Eine met... more Frankl, Viktor: סינכרוניזציה בבירקנוואלד. ועידה מטאפיזית [Synchronisation in Birkenwald. Eine metaphysische Konferenz]. In: Theatron 46 (2019), 24-62.
Deutsch-hebräische Ausgabe – Übertragen und mit einem Nachwort von Jan Kühne Mit einem Gedicht i... more Deutsch-hebräische Ausgabe – Übertragen und mit einem Nachwort von Jan Kühne
Mit einem Gedicht in arabischer Übersetzung von Nael Eltoukhy
Mati Shemoelof ist Dichter, Autor und Herausgeber (Mehr zur Biographie). Sein Schreiben ist vielfältig und umfaßt Lyrikbände, Theaters .tücke, Artikel und Belletristik. Seine Arbeiten haben bedeutende Anerkennung und Preise gewonnen. Er ist eine der führenden Stimmen arabischer Juden (Mizrahi-Bewegung), war Mitbegründer der Guerilla Culture-Bewegung in Israel. Heute ist er einer der Gründer von Poetic Hafla, einer mehrsprachigen Poesie-Kunst-Musik-Party in Berlin.
https://www.hasifriya.berlin/he/262
Aus dem Nachwort von Yvonne Livay: „Im Jahre 2009 stieß Jan Kühne als jüngstes Mitglied zu LYRIS,... more Aus dem Nachwort von Yvonne Livay:
„Im Jahre 2009 stieß Jan Kühne als jüngstes Mitglied zu LYRIS, einer deutschschreibenden Dichtergruppe, die 1982 in Jerusalem gegründet wurde. …
Der Dichter pendelt zwischen zwei Sprachwelten und dies mit Virtuosität, da er die hebräische Sprache sehr gut beherrscht. Seine vielseitigen Begabungen ermöglichen ihm den Zugang zu einer Vielfalt von Schreibstilen und bereichern die Dynamik seines Werks. …
"For if the theater is like the plague, it is not only because it affects important collectivitie... more "For if the theater is like the plague, it is not only because it affects important collectivities and upsets them in an identical way. In the theater as in the plague there is something both victorious and vengeful: we are aware that the spontaneous conflagration which the plague lights wherever it passes is nothing else than an immense liquidation." Antonin Artaud, trans. Mary Caroline Richards
‘The Theatre and the Plague’
At this time of national and global lockdowns with the world literally coming to a halt in order to combat and contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, causing disruptions on every possible level of our everyday lives, we are planning an issue of Performance Research ‘On Interruptions’.
We welcome contributions addressing any method or expression responding or reacting to the interruptions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including earlier eruptions of plagues or volcanoes but also carnivalesque or ritual interruptions, celebrating moments of renewal and joy, interrupting the mundane as well as interruptions of such delights. We want to feature contributions exploring every conceivable form of performative interruptions, initially developing from a traditional, literary perspective with the caesuraas a break or pause in a verse where one phrase ends and the following phrase begins or where the verse metre necessitates or allows for such a momentary break.
With German Romanticism, in particular through the poet and translator Friedrich Hölderlin, the caesurabecame the point of departure for a more comprehensive theoretical approach to literature and performance. Hölderlin’s often enigmatic remarks about the caesuraas an interruptive device have been widely interpreted by writers, scholars and philosophers. They have in different ways shown that the ‘break’ (or the interruption) created by the caesurais not arresting the continuity of a text but serves as a device (or a feature) that structures its form or, as Hölderlin suggested in his ‘Remarks on Oedipus’, giving form to ‘representation itself’.
It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, for several reasons a foundational text for Western culture,which begins by raising the question how the poliswill get rid of a plague was first performed the year after theso-calledAthenian Plague. In
his History of the Peloponnesian WarThucydides claimedthat this plagueled to the breakdown of social morals and determined the outcome of the war between Sparta and Athens, also marking the gradually growing crisis of Athenian democracy.
The issue of Performance Research ‘On Interruptions’ in part arises from, and responds to, a three-month residency at the Israel Institute of Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (November 2019–January 2020) titled ‘Interrupting Kafka’ (https://iias.huji.ac.il/
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rg.Interruptingkafka) in which over thirty academics and artists were involved as fellows, guests and invited speakers. The research group explored and developed both scholarly and creative approaches and methods to understand and communicate interruptions, and in particular how research and art interact (orevencreatively ‘interrupt’ each other).Sincethe group dispersed (in January 2020) the scope of these issues has been radically transformed and magnified, becoming a global state of emergency.
The research project explored how Walter Benjamin gradually transformed Hölderlin’s ‘literary’ caesuraand the idea of the interruption into a theatrical, performative idiom based on his theoretical reflections on the epic theatre of Bertolt Brecht. Benjamin’s insight that the Interruption (Die Unterbrechung) is a formative feature of Brecht’s epic theatre emerged in several stages and was most densely formulated in his essay ‘What Is Epic Theatre?’ (Second version, 1939), where he describes the sudden appearance of a stranger that leads to a standstill. The aim of such an interruption in Brecht’s epic theatre, which was also an important feature of Kafka’s writings, Benjamin maintained, ‘consists in arousing astonishment [Staunen] rather than empathy [Einfühlung]’, by presenting conditions rather than by developing individual, consecutive actions based on causality.
The Performance Research issue ‘On Interruptions’ will present the broadest possible perspectives – with regards to the materials presented as well as the methods for approaching interruptions – exploring both potentials for resistance and constructive change and their dangers, which undermine basic moral values. Maybe the opening of Kafka’s The Trialand Peter Brook’s film version ofMarat/Sadeby Peter Weiss will help us to begin thinking about these issues...
Topics might include but are not limited to:
- The end of an era and the beginning of a new one – and the charms of continuity
- Visible or invisible causes of interruptions
- Interruption as rapture, carnival as interruption, ritual as renewal
- Interruption as an aesthetic device and dramaturgical strategy in dance and theatre
- The ‘break’ in music and dance and the creative strategies of ‘breakdown’/‘blackout’
- The interruption of ‘theatre-going’ as a cultural/social phenomenon and the function of
theatre in times of ‘social distancing’
- The liberating and transformative power of interruption
- Interruption as intervention and the power of theatre to disturb and destabilize
- Interruption Science’ (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interruption_science) and the
performing arts
- Digital interruptions in online performances
- Dramatic, performative and poetic notions of caesura
- The Politics of interruption
- Stuttering, slips of the tongue, blackouts, accidents and other glitches
- Performative interruptions/interruptions of performance.
SCHEDULE:
Proposals: 17 August 2020 First Drafts: December 2020 Final Drafts: March 2021 Publication: May 2021
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FORMAT:
Alongside long-form articles, we encourage short articles and provocations. As with other editions of Performance Research, we welcome artist’s pages and other contributions that use distinctive layouts and typographies, combining words and images, as well as more conventional essays.
ISSUE CONTACTS:
All proposals, submissions and general enquiries should be sent direct to Performance Research at: info@performance-research.org
Issue-related enquiries should be directed to the issue editors: Jan Kühne – jan.kuehne@mail.huji.ac.il
Freddie Rokem – freddie.rokem@gmail.com
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS:
- Before submitting a proposal, we encourage you to visit our website (http:// www.performance-research.org) and familiarize yourself with the journal.
- Proposals will be accepted by email (Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format (RTF)).
- Proposals should not exceed one A4 side.
- Please include your surname in the file name of the document you send.
- Please include the issue title and issue number in the subject line of your email.
- Submission of images and other visual material is welcome provided that all attachments do not exceed 5 MB, and there is a maximum of five images.
- Submission of a proposal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
- If your proposal is accepted, you will be invited to submit an article in first draft by the deadline indicated above. On the final acceptance of a completed article you will be asked to sign an author agreement in order for your work to be published in Performance Research.