HEBREW LITERATURE

modern hebrew literature, the beginnings of which go back to the 18th century, is universal in scope and secular in spirit, thus contrasting with the purely legal, ritualistic or homiletic works of earlier times. this literature took its rise in italy (m. h. luzzatto, 1707-47), whence it shifted to germany, showing at first, notably through the influence of moses mendelssohn (1729-86), a rationalistic and cosmopolitan tendency. following a brief period of activity in galicia dominated by biblical criticism and historical scholarship (krochmal, 1785-1840; rapoport, 1790-1867), hebrew literature assumed a new character in russia and lithuania, where the so-called hzaskalah movement developed—a humanistic and humanitarian spirit which set itself against the traditional exclusiveness of the jew. it found expression in the historical and scientific com- pendia of kalman schulman (1819-99), in the novel (mapu, 1808-67) and in poetry (lebensohn, 1828-52; j. l. gordon, (1831-92). the novelist p. smolenskin (1842-85) heralded a reaction, hastened by the pogroms against the jews, towards a jewish national policy, which culminated in zionism. since his day hebrew literature has been largely dominated by the idea of a national revival. this idea has found its most complete ex- pression in the essays of asher ginzberg (ahad ha'am) who has resisted the tendency to lay undue stress on the economic and political factors in zionism and has insisted on the concep- tion of palestine as the cultural centre of the hebrew race. hebrew literature the individualistic and symbolic spirit in hebrew literature has been greatly influenced by the modern mystic movement among the jews known as hassidism. in the sphere of fiction this spirit found its foremost representative in isaac loeb perez (1851-1915), whose stories are distinguished by artistic beauty and tenderness. humour is the dominant characteristic of two other famous hebrew story-writers—s. j. abramowitsch (known as “ mendele,” 1835-1918) and s. rabinowitz (known as ““sholem aleichem,” 1859-1916). judah steinberg (1863- 1908), author of many stories, excels in the delineation of character, and in him the individual finds more complete and varied representation than elsewhere in jiebrew literature. this fact, and the clearness and fluency of his style, give him high rank among hebrew novelists. another novelist of some distinction is r. a. brandes (1851-1902), who chose the struggle for religious reform as the theme of his principal novels. poetry has made rapid strides in modern hebrew literature. there is a host of contemporary pocts, the most representative of whom is hayyim nachman byalik (1873- ). with the ex- ception of judah ha-levi (il. rath century) he is perhaps the leading jewish national poct, inheriting the idealism and the prophetic seriousness of his people. he is pre-eminently the poet of jewish woe. to jewish national hopes and aspirations he seldom gives expression in his verse. none of the hebrew poets has grasped and represented the spirit of the ghetto and its poetry with so much sympathy and so much tenderness of fecling as byalik. the ideas of ahad ha’am and the influence of gordon’s style and form are traceable in his poems. next to byalik and in strong contrast with him stands dr. saul tscher- nichowski (1875- ). he was the first to introduce into hebrew poetry an admiration for the greck spirit and the sense of complete enjoyment of life. his work is remarkable for its easy gracefulness and its varied rythms and metrical forms. dr. jacob cahan (1880- ) is an idealist, whose poems bear the stamp of a marked individuality. in the poems of zalman schneor (1886— ) there is at times a gentle pessimistic vein, and his verse is full of life and beauty; the rhythm has harmony and tunefulness, the imagery is rich, varied and striking, and the movement quick and bold. his prose, too, is marked by the same qualities. among a list of poets of less distinction may be mentioned, jacob steinberg, jacob fichman, isaac katzenelson, j. j. koplewitz, david schimonwitz, the brothers simon and — pesach ginsburg, hillel bavli, judah karni, a. schlonsky, uri zebi greenburg, avigdor feuerstein, benjamin n. silkiner and simon leo halkin. modern hebrew poetry, like hebrew poctry in general, has been strongest in lyric. the various transformations of jewish life brought about by the zionist and other jewish movements and the influence of foreign literatures had their effects upon the shaping of con- temporary hebrew fiction, notably the short story and the novel. there has been created a hebrew short story, artistic in technique and gencrally psychological in presentation, delincat- ing the individual in a variety of moods and situations; but at the same time marked by a minute, torturing self-analysis, by an impotence in the will of the heroes and by an outlook upon life that is gloomy and despondent. the creators of these stories are followers of micah joseph berdyczewski (1865-1921), who in his view of life was influenced by the individualistic theories of nietzsche. among the most notable story-writers of this group are isaiah domosehvitzky (known as j. bershadsky, 1870- 1908), joseph hayyim brenner (1881-1921), gershon schof- mann, uri nisan gnessin (1880-1913), hirsch david naumberg and isaac dob berkowitz. the melancholy and morbid spirit which some of these writers have introduced into the hebrew sketch and novel is almost entirely traccable 10 the iniluence of the russian and scandinavian literatures of the last few decades. a notable exception to this tendency is s. j. agnon, an original symbolico-mystical writer of short storics and a master of hebrew style. other writers of fiction who are free from this pessimistic strain are a. a. kabak, moses smilansky, l. a. orloff, s. ben-zion guttman, eliezer steinman, asher barash and a. reubeni. hictograph—hejaz the adaptation of the hebrew language to the needs of modern life owes much to eliezer ben-ychuda (1858-1923), one of the pioneers of the idea of a jewish national renaissance, whose ten-volume hebrew dictionary (thesaurus totius he- brattatis) 1s a monument of a life’s devotion to the revival of hebrew. the talent of david frischmann (1863—1922)extended over the domains of the feuilleton, the short story, poetry and criticism. dr. joseph klausner (1874- ), the editor of the leading hebrew monthly j/ashiloah, is active in many fields— criticism, history, scholarship and journalism. he _ possesses considerable erudition and historic insight. iillel zeitlin, a mystic, has made original contributions to various phases of modern hebrew literature. the greatest jewish journalist, writing for jews in hebrew and in many other languages, is nahum sokolow. reuben brainin is a fine stvlist and an able critic but his literary ideas and tastes are perhaps too much determined by outside influences. in dr. simon bernfeld (1860- ) hebrew literature has a many-sided and very prolific writer with a gift for presenting the results of scholarly research in attractive literary form. wolf jawitz (1847- 1924) was a historian and a philosopher of religious romanticism. david neumark (1866-1924) made original contributions to the study of jewish philosophy. jacob klatzkin, fishel lachower, s. b. maximon, dr. s$. m. melamed, joel blau, osias thon, mordecai ehrenpreis, s. i. hurwitz and others have contributed much to the development of the essay in hebrew literature. hebrew literature, including its vernacular is a primary factor responsible for the rejuvenation of the national jewish spirit and for the emancipation of jewish life from external influences. literary activity came to a virtual standstill as a result of the world war and its consequences, which bore with especial severity on eastern europe, formerly the chief centre of hebrew literature. during the last few years there has been a revival in eastern europe, and a certain development in america; but the centre of this activity has shifted to palestine. biblioograpiiy.—n. slouschz, la renaissance de la litterature hebraigue (1903), with english translation by henrictta szold (1909); id., la poeste lyrique hebraique contemporaine, 1552-1910 (1911); jacob s. raisin, the ihaskalah movement tu russia (1913); israel cohen, jewish life in modern times (1914); s. dubnov, llistory of ihe jews in russia and poland, 3 vol. (1916-20); joseph klausner, geschichte der neuhebraeischen literatur (1921); ys? a landau, short lectures on modern iebrew literature (1923); joseph reider, “ negative tendencies in modern hebrew literature ” in hebrew union college jubilee volume, pp. 445-482 (1925); a. s. waldstein, evolution of afodern hebrew literature, 1850- ar one | o hectograph: see office appliances. hedin, sven (1865- ), swedish explorer, was born in stockholm feb. 19 1865. he was educated at the hegskola in stockholm, and uppsala university and later studied at berlin and halle. in 1885-6 he travelled through persia and mesopotamia, and in 1890 was attached to king oscar’s embassy to the shah of persia. in the same year he visited khurasan and turkestan and reached kashgar in 1891. he is best known through his travels in tibet, which placed him in the first rank of modern asiatic explorers. between 1893 and 1897 he travelled across the asiatic continent from orenburg by the ural over the pa- mirs and the plateau of tibet to peking. during two other expeditions, (1899-1902, -1906-8) he made valuable additions to the scientific knowledge of these tracts and explored specially the sources of the sutle] and the brahmaputra. in 1902 he be- came a swedish noble, and in 1909 the indian government invested him with the k.c.i.e. during the war he made frequent visits to the turkish front and in 1923 he travelled round the world, through the united states, mongolia and russia. sven hedin’s writings include: journey through persia and mesopo- lamia and the catcassus (1887); journey through kharasan and turkestan (1892-3); through asia (1898); central asia and tibet (1903); adu ete in tibet (1904); scientific results of a journey in central asia 1890-1902, 8 vol. (1904- 7): transhimalaya, 3 vol. (1909-12); overland to india, 2 vol. (1910); bagdad, babylon, nineveh (1917); to jerusalem (1917); southern tibet, 12 vol. (1917-22 ); eine routenaufnahme durch ostpersien, 2 vol. (1918- 24): my life as an explorer (1926). -_ 307 hedjaz: sce hejaz. heidenstam, verner von (18s59- ), swedish writer, was born july 6 1859 in olshammar. he lived for several years in the south of europe, egypt and the east. on his return home, he began his literary career with a collection of poems entitled vallfart och vandringsaar (pilgrimage and years of wandering) (1888) based on oriental life, and which formed a protest against the naturalism then prevalent in swedish literature. this led to the great literary renaissance of 1890 in sweden. in 1889 he published endymion, an oriental story, and in 1892 his great work, alienus, a fanciful romance concerning a pilgrimage in search of beauty through various ages and countries. ilis other collection of poems (1895). indicates the author’s transition to national ideas. this national tendency attained its zenith in his great prose work, karolinerna (the carlists), translated into english in 1902, a collection of stories about the time of king charles xii. then followed den hellige birgittas pilegrims- faerd (st. bridget’s pilgrimage) in 1901, besides descriptions of sweden in ancient times and in the middle ages in folkunga- trddet, 2 vol. (1905, 1920), and svenskarna og deres hovdinger (swedes and their chieftains), 2 vol. (1908, 1909). in 1915 heidenstam published nya dikter (the new poet), and in 1916 was awarded the nobel prize for literature. see f. bodk, sveriges moderna litferatur, 2nd ed. (1921). heijermans, herman (1864-1924), dutch writer (see 13.212). itlis later plays include schakels (1904); allerzcilen (1906); de groote viucht (1908); akasuerus (1912) and eva bonheur (1919). he lived for a few years in berlin, but returned to holland in 1912 in order to manage a society of players, and devoted himself to that work. he died in 1924.