Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Agnon in 1966
Born	Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes (1887-08-08)August 8, 1887 Buczacz,Polish Galicia,Austria-Hungary (nowBuchach,Ukraine)
Died	February 17, 1970(1970-02-17)(aged 81) Jerusalem,Israel
Resting place	Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery
Occupation	Novelist, poet, short-story writer
Language	Hebrew
Nationality	Israeli
Genre	Novels
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Literature 1966
Spouse	Esther Marx

Shmuel Yosef Agnon(Hebrew:שמואל יוסף עגנון;August 8, 1887– February 17, 1970)was an Austro-Hungarian-born Israeli novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was one of the central figures ofmodern Hebrewliterature. In Hebrew, he is known by theacronymShai Agnon(ש "י עגנון‎). In English, his works are published under the nameS. Y. Agnon.

Agnon was born inPolish Galicia,then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire,and later immigrated toMandatory Palestine,and died inJerusalem.

His works deal with the conflict between the traditionalJewishlife and language and themodern world.They also attempt to recapture the fading traditions of the Europeanshtetl(village). In a wider context, he also contributed to broadening the characteristic conception of thenarrator's role in literature. Agnon had a distinctive linguistic style, mi xing modern and rabbinic Hebrew.

In 1966, he shared theNobel Prize in Literaturewith the poetNelly Sachs.

Biography

Buczacz, Agnon's hometown

Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes (later Agnon) was born in Buczacz (Polish spelling, pronouncedBuchach,Butschatsch in German),Polish Galicia(then within theAustro-Hungarian Empire), nowBuchach,Ukraine.Officially, his date of birth in theHebrew calendarwas 18 Av 5648 (July 26), but he always said his birthday was on the Jewishfast dayofTisha B'Av,the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av.

His father, Shalom Mordechai Halevy, was ordained as arabbi,but worked in thefur trade,and had many connections among theHasidim.His mother's side had ties to theMitnagdim.

He did not attend school and was schooled by his parents.In addition to studying Jewish texts, Agnon studied writings of theHaskalah,and was also tutored in German. At the age of eight, he began to write in Hebrew andYiddish,At the age of 15, he published his first poem – a Yiddish poem about theKabbalistJoseph della Reina.He continued to write poems and stories in Hebrew and Yiddish, which were published in Galicia.

In 1908, he moved toJaffainOttoman Palestine.The first story he published there was "Agunot"(" Chained Wives "), which appeared that same year in the journalHa`omer.He used thepen name"Agnon", derived from the title of the story, which he adopted as his officialsurnamein 1924. In 1910, "Forsaken Wives" was translated into German. In 1912, at the urging ofYosef Haim Brenner,he published a novella, "Vehaya Ha'akov Lemishor" ( "The Crooked Shall Be Made Straight" ).

In 1913, Agnon moved to Germany, where he met Esther Marx (1889-1973), the sister ofAlexander Marx.They married in 1920 and had two children. In Germany he lived in Berlin andBad Homburg vor der Höhe(1921–24).Salman Schocken,a businessman and later also publisher, became his literarypatronand freed him from financial worries.From 1931 on, his work was published bySchocken Books,and his short stories appeared regularly in the newspaperHaaretz,also owned by the Schocken family. In Germany, he continued to write short stories and collaborated withMartin Buberon an anthology of Hasidic stories. Many of his early books appeared in Buber'sJüdischer Verlag(Berlin). The mostly assimilated, secular German Jews, Buber andFranz Rosenzweigamong them, considered Agnon to be a legitimate relic, being a religious man, familiar with Jewish scripture.Gershom Scholemcalled him "the Jews' Jew".

In 1924, a fire broke out in his home, destroying his manuscripts and rare book collection. This traumatic event crops up occasionally in his stories. Later that year, Agnon returned to Palestine and settled with his family in theJerusalemneighborhood ofTalpiot.In 1929, his library was destroyed again duringanti-Jewish riots.

When his novelHachnasat Kalla( "The Bridal Canopy" ) appeared in 1931 to great critical acclaim, Agnon's place in Hebrew literature was assured.In 1935, he publishedSippur Pashut( "A Simple Story" ), anovellaset in Buchach at the end of the 19th century. Another novel,Tmol Shilshom( "Only Yesterday" ), set inEretz Yisrael(Israel) of the early 20th century, appeared in 1945.

Agnon was a strictvegetarianin his personal life.

During much of the 20th century, there was debate about whether Agnon or RabbiYitzhak HaLevi Herzogwas the true author of thePrayer for the Welfare of the State of Israelin 1948. Herzog was generally considered the author until a 1983 article inMa'arivby scholar David Tamar raised the possibility of Agnon's authorship. However, findings by scholarYoel Rappeland corroborated by theNational Library of Israelin 2018 confirmed Herzog's authorship, but confirmed that Agnon had edited the work.

Literary themes and influences

Agnon's study

Agnon's writing has been the subject of extensiveacademic research.Many leading scholars of Hebrew literature have published books and papers on his work, among themBaruch Kurzweil,Dov Sadan,Nitza Ben-Dov,Dan Miron,Dan LaorandAlan Mintz.Agnon writes about Jewish life, but with his own unique perspective and special touch. In his Nobel acceptance speech, Agnon claimed "Some see in my books the influences of authors whose names, in my ignorance, I have not even heard, while others see the influences of poets whose names I have heard but whose writings I have not read." He went on to detail that his primary influences were the stories of theBible.Agnon acknowledged that he was also influenced by German literature and culture, and European literature in general, which he read in German translation. A collection of essays on this subject, edited in part byHillel Weiss,with contributions from Israeli and German scholars, was published in 2010:Agnon and Germany: The Presence of the German World in the Writings of S.Y. Agnon.The buddingHebrewliterature also influenced his works, notably that of his friend,Yosef Haim Brenner.In Germany, Agnon also spent time with the HebraistsHayim Nahman BialikandAhad Ha'am.

The communities he passed through in his life are reflected in his works:

• Galicia: in the booksThe Bridal Canopy,A City and the Fullness Thereof,A Simple StoryandA Guest for the Night.
• Germany: in the stories "Fernheim", "Thus Far" and "Between Two Cities".
• Jaffa: in the stories "Oath of Allegiance", "Tmol Shilshom" and "The Dune".
• Jerusalem: "Tehilla", "Tmol Shilshom", "Ido ve-Inam" and "Shira".

Nitza Ben-Dov writes about Agnon's use of allusiveness, free-association and imaginative dream-sequences, and discusses how seemingly inconsequential events and thoughts determine the lives of his characters.

Some of Agnon's works, such asThe Bridal Canopy,And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight,andThe Doctor's Divorce,have been adapted fortheatre.A play based on Agnon's letters to his wife, "Esterlein Yakirati", was performed at theKhan Theaterin Jerusalem.

Language

Agnon's writing often used words and phrases that differed from what would become established modern Hebrew. His distinct language is based on traditional Jewish sources, such as theTorahand theProphets,Midrashicliterature, theMishnah,and otherRabbinic literature.Some examples include:

• batei yadayim(lit. "hand-houses" ) for modernkfafot(gloves).
• yatzta(יצתה‎) rather than the modern conjugationyatz'a(יצאה‎) ( "she went out" ).
• rotev(רוטב‎) meaning soup in place of modernmarak(מרק‎). In Modern Hebrew the term 'rotev' means 'sauce'.
• bet kahavafor modernbet kafe(coffee house / café), based on transliteration of the word 'coffee' from Arabic, rather than the contemporary term common in Hebrew, which comes from European languages.

Bar-Ilan Universityhas made a computerizedconcordanceof his works in order to study his language.

Awards and critical acclaim

Portrait of Agnon before 1945

Agnon receiving theUssishkinPrize 1946

Agnon (left) receiving the Nobel Prize, 1966

Agnon was twice awarded theBialik Prizefor literature (1934and 1950). He was also twice awarded theIsrael Prize,for literature (1954and 1958).

In 1966, he was awarded theNobel Prize in Literature"for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people".The prize was shared with German Jewish authorNelly Sachs.In his speech at theaward ceremony,Agnon introduced himself in Hebrew: "As a result of the historic catastrophe in whichTitusof Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem ".The award ceremony took place on a Saturday during the Jewish festival ofHanukkah.Agnon, who was religiously observant, postponed attendance at the awards ceremony until he had performed two Jewish ceremonies of his own on Saturday night, to end the Sabbath and to light themenorah.

In later years, Agnon's fame was such that when he complained to the municipality that traffic noise near his home was disturbing his work, the city closed the street to cars and posted a sign that read: "No entry to all vehicles, writer at work!"

Death and legacy

Shmuel Yosef Agnon Memorial inBad Homburg,Germany

First day cover for Ukrainian commemorative stamp

Agnon featured on thefifty-shekel bill,second series

Exposition in Bouchach museum

Agnon died in Jerusalem on February 17, 1970. His daughter,Emuna Yaron,continued to publish his workposthumously.Agnon's archive was transferred by the family to theNational Library in Jerusalem.His home inTalpiot,built in 1931 in theBauhausstyle, was turned into a museum,Beit Agnon.The study where he wrote many of his works was preserved intact.Agnon's image, with a list of his works and his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, appeared on thefifty-shekel bill,second series, in circulation from 1985 to 2014.

The main street in Jerusalem'sGivat Oranimneighborhood is called Sderot Shai Agnon, and a synagogue in Talpiot, a few blocks from his home, is named after him. Agnon is also memorialized in Buchach (now in Ukraine). The Historical Museum in Buchach has an exhibit about him and a bust of the author is mounted on a pedestal in a plaza across the street from the house where he lived. The house itself is preserved and marked as the home where Agnon lived from birth till the age of (approximately) 19; the street that runs in front of the house is named "Agnon Street" (in Ukrainian).

Agnotherapy is a method developed in Israel to help elderly people express their feelings.

Beit Agnon

After Agnon's death, the former mayor of JerusalemMordechai Ish-Shalominitiated the opening of his home to the public. In the early 1980s, the kitchen and family dining room were turned into a lecture and conference hall, and literary and cultural evenings were held there. In 2005, the Agnon House Association in Jerusalem renovated the building, which reopened in January 2009. The house was designed by the German-Jewish architect Fritz Korenberg, who was also his neighbor.

Published works

Novels and novellas

• The Bridal Canopy(1931), translated fromHakhnāsat kallāh.An epic describing Galician Judaism at the start of the 19th century. The story of a poor but devout Galician Jew, Reb Yudel, who wanders the countryside with his companion, Nuta, during the early 19th century, in search of bridegrooms for his three daughters.
• In the Heart of the Seas,a story of a journey to the land of Israel(1933), translated fromBi-levav yamim.A short novel about a group of ten men who travel from Eastern Europe to Jerusalem.
• A Simple Story(1935), translated fromSipur pashut.A short novel about a young man, his search for a bride, and the lessons of marriage.
• A Guest for the Night(1938), translated fromOre'ah Noteh Lalun.A novel about the decline of eastern European Jewry. The narrator visits his old hometown and discovers that great changes have occurred since World War I.
• Betrothed(1943), translated fromShevuat Emunim.A short novel.
• Only Yesterday(1945), translated fromTemol shilshom.An epic novel set in theSecond Aliyahperiod. It follows the story of the narrator from Galicia to Jaffa to Jerusalem. Sometimes translated asThose Were The Days.
• Edo and Enam(1950). A short novel.
• To This Day(1952), translated fromʿAd henah.A tale of a young writer stranded in Berlin during World War I.
• Shira(1971). A novel set in Jerusalem in the 1930s and 1940s. Manfred Herbst, a middle-aged professor suffering from boredom, spends his days prowling the streets searching for Shira, the beguiling nurse he met when his wife was giving birth to their third child. Against the background of 1930s Jerusalem, Herbst wages war against the encroachment of age.

Short stories

• Of Such and Of Such,a collection of stories, including "And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight", "Forsaken Wives", and "Belevav Yamim" ( "In the Heart of the Seas" ) from 1933.
• At the Handles of the Lock(1923), a collection of love stories, including "Bidmay Yameha" ( "In the Prime of Her Life" ), "A Simple Story", and "The Dune".
• Near and Apparent,a collection of stories, including "The Two Sages Who Were In Our City", "Between Two Cities", "The Lady and the Peddler", the collection "The Book of Deeds", the satire "Chapters of the National Manual", and "Introduction to the Kaddish: After the Funerals of Those Murdered in the Land of Israel".
• Thus Far,a collection of stories, including "Thus Far", "Prayer", "Oath of Allegiance", "The Garment", "Fernheim", and "Ido ve-Inam" (Edo and Enam).
• The Fire and the Wood,a collection of stories including Hasidic tales, a semi-fictional account of Agnon's family history and other stories.
• Tale of the Goat

English translations

• "Forever (Ad Olam)", Translated and commentary by Yehuda Salu, CreateSpace, 2014.
• A Simple Story,revised edition, translated by Hillel Halkin, The Toby Press, 2014.
• Shira,revised edition of Agnon's final novel, The Toby Press, 2014
• Two Tales: Betrothed & Edo and Enam,contains two short novellas.
• Twenty-One Stories,a collection of translated stories from "The Book of Deeds" and elsewhere.
• Israeli Stories,ed. Joel Blocker. Contains the stories "Tehilah" (1950) and "Forevermore" (1954).
• New Writing in Israel,ed. Ezra Spicehandler and Curtis Arnson. Contains the story "Wartime in Leipzig", an excerpt from "In Mr. Lublin's Store".
• A Dwelling Place of My People,contains 16 short stories about the Hassidim of Poland, from the Hebrew volume "These and Those" (1932).
• Jaffa, belle of the seas: Selections from the works of S.Y. Agnon
• Tehilah,Israel Argosy, trans. by Walter Lever, Jerusalem Post Press, Jerusalem, 1956

Anthologies

• Days of Awe(1938), a book of customs, interpretations, and legends for the Jewish days of mercy and forgiveness:Rosh Hashanah,Yom Kippur,and the days between.
• Present at Sinai: The Giving of the Law(1959), an anthology for the festival ofShavuot.

Posthumous publications

• Ir Umeloah( "A City and the Fullness Thereof" ) (1973), a collection of stories and legends about Buczacz, Agnon's hometown.
• In Mr. Lublin's Store(1974), set in Germany of the First World War.
• Within the Wall(1975), a collection of four stories.
• From Myself to Myself(1976), a collection of essays and speeches.
• Introductions(1977), stories.
• Book, Writer and Story(1978), stories about writers and books from the Jewish sources.
• The Beams of Our House(1979), two stories, the first about a Jewish family in Galicia, the second about the history of Agnon's family.
• Esterlein Yakirati( "Dear Esther: Letters 1924–1931" (1983), letters from Agnon to his wife.
• A Shroud of Stories(1985).
• The Correspondence between S.Y. Agnon and S. Schocken(1991), letters between Agnon and his publisher.
• Agnon's Alef Bet Poems(1998), a children's guide to the Hebrew Alphabet.
• A Book That Was Lost: Thirty Five Stories(2008)

In 1977 theHebrew UniversitypublishedYiddish Works,a collection of stories and poems that Agnon wrote in Yiddish during 1903–1906.

See also

• List of Jewish Nobel laureates

Bibliography

• Arnold J. Band,Nostalgia and nightmare: a study in the fiction of S.Y. Agnon,Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968.
• Nitza Ben-Dov,Agnon's art of indirection: Uncovering latent content in the fiction of S.Y Agnon,Brill, (Leiden). 1993.ISBN90-04-09863-1.
• Gershon Shaked,Shmuel Yosef Agnon: A Revolutionary Traditionalist.New York University Press, 1989.
• Anne Golomb Hoffman,Between Exile and Return: S.Y. Agnon and the Drama of Writing,New York: SUNY, 1991.ISBN0-7914-0541-9.
• Amos Oz,The Silence of Heaven: Agnon's Fear of God,Princeton University Press, 2000.
• Roman Katsman,Literature, History, Choice: The Principle ofAlternative Historyin Literature (S.Y. Agnon, The City with All That is Therein).Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
• Abramson, Glenda (2008).Hebrew Writing of the First World War.Valentine Mitchell.ISBN9780853037712.
• Yaniv Hagbi,Language, Absence, Play: Judaism and Superstructuralism in the Poetics of S. Y. Agnon,Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2009.
• Ilana Pardes,Agnon's Moonstruck Lovers: The Song of Songs in Israeli Culture,Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2013.
• Ahuva Feldman, "Consciousness of time and mission in S. Y. Agnon'sShira.Hebrew Studies50 (2009) 339-381.
• Marc Bernstein, Midrash and marginality: TheAgunotof S. Y. Agnon and Devorah Baron.Hebrew Studies42:7-58.
• Ezrahi, Sidra DeKoven (April 2004). "Sentient Dogs, Liberated Rams, and Talking Asses: Agnon's Biblical Zoo".AJS Review.28(1): 105–136.doi:10.1017/S0364009404000078.S2CID163052331.

External links

• Biography of Shmuel Yosef Agnon(Jewish Agency for Israel)
• Archive of Midrash Agnon course on 5 short stories from Agnon House and WebYeshiva.org.
• Archive of course on Agnon's novella "Tehilla" broadcast from Agnon House and WebYeshiva.org.
• Shiri Lev Ari:S.Y. Agnon's relatives: The East Jerusalem Nashashibis(Ha'aretz, July 10, 2006)
• Dan Laor:Agnon's biographer describes his long journey home
• Shmuel Yosef AgnonatFind a Grave
• Biography
• Jewish Renaissance Pioneers:Shmuel Yosef Agnon
• Agnon's Nobel Prize Speech
• Shmuel Yosef Agnonon Nobelprize.org
• Ziva Shamir,The portrait of Agnon's stage adapter as a literary interpreter (Lecture)