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Hebrew Studies 40 (1999) 394 Reviews portant if we want to try and fonn some understanding of the direction the cultural identity of the Jews in Iraq could have taken had the political changes in the Middle East been different. In contras~ the contribution the Iraqi-born Israeli writers, especially Ballas, have made to Hebrew literature may well be viewed as the only alternative to the Western-dommated Hebrew canonical literature and as the "seed" for future developments in which canonical Arabic culture may become accepted as a true participant in the building up of a new Israeli culture. But at the moment that seems rather far off. Reuven Snir Haifa University Haifa. Israel rsnir@research.haifa.ac.il 1"Ol1 10'l 'I,," "rzj 'n"~" ,n~ln "rzj '1)"::1 c"nn (POSTERITY HOOKED: THE TRAVAIL AND ACHIEVEMENT OF URI GNESSIN) [HEBREW]. By Dan Miron. Pp. 631. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1997. Cloth, $40.00. Israel, $82.00. Uri Nissan Gnessin (1879, Russia-1913, Poland) was one of the most innovative and unique storytellers in the history of modem Hebrew literature . He is the aesthetic herald of the "Stream of Consciousness" style in modem Hebrew literature. What makes Gnessin a further pioneer is the amazing fact that he sculpted his stories and novellas in the "Stream of Consciousness" style independent from the same style that began budding in English (both British and American) literature from the third decade of the current century (Joyce, Wolf0, as well as their French predecessor (proust). In this respect, Gnessin is indeed one of the few artists in the world who already fonned and introduced "Stream of Consciousness" literature at the dawn of the twentieth century, prior to its emergence in the poetic arena of English literature. Gnessin's stories and novellas (such as Tzileley hachaim [Shadows of Life, 1904], Halzidah [Aside, 1905], Beinatay'im [In the Meantime, 1906], Beterem [Prior, 1912], Etzel [Besides, 1913]) plausibly display the "Stream of Consciousness" style, its very poetically appealing peak and cogently challenging character. On one hand, text is visibly devoid of an external plot that causally evolves and gradually and "logically" leads to a climatic peak, terminating closure. On the other hand, an internal plot, which fastidiously unfolds and reflects the character's/characters' (notably the Hebrew Studies 40 (1999) 395 Reviews prevailing protagonist's) latent, cryptic, psychological-emotional mechanism , compensates for and balances the absence. This internal plot simultaneously reacts to realistic occurrences and mind processes through ramiform, intricate and equally tantalizing, clusters of associations, feelings , expressions, thoughts, deliberations, descriptions, and splintering, "stuttering," seemingly hesitant incidents, episodes, and circumstances. The literary technique primarily utilized while practicing "stream of consciousness " is the internal monologue (resembling the soliloquy in drama). Hence, the overall impression evokes a sense of a colorful yet confusing collage, a misty yet lyrical mosaic, both intellectually intriguing and artistically spellbinding, like an impressionistic painting by Pissaro. Thus, Gnessin was not only a messenger of a novel literary route but also a daring herald who bestowed upon modem Hebrew literature a colorfully demanding intricacy that has still not met its aesthetic competition. In short, Gnessin was an aesthetic giant. Luckily, his singularly spectacular aesthetic heritage recently met Professor Dan Miron, a scholar of a remarkably laudable caliber who successfully does scholastic justice to Gnessin's monumental literary creation. Indeed, Dan Miron himself may display certain reservation regarding the way Gnessin's work is hereby introduced, i.e., primarily focusing upon his work as the most desirable zenith of "stream of consciousness" literature. Dan Miron may rightly argue that such an emphasis regretfully limits and reduces Gnessin's aesthetic versatility and overwhelmingly literary plenty. However, I chose to preamble this review stressing Gnessin's pioneering role in Hebrew "stream of consciousness" literature in order to introduce his work to the reader, who may not be sufficiently acquainted with Gnessin, and to blaze the trail for briefly portraying Dan Miron's amazingly comprehensive and insightful study of Gnessin's "ars poetica" and works of literature. Miron launches his elucidating criticaVinterpretative odyssey of Gnessin's "ars poetica" while addressing Gnessin's early cluster of stories collectively entitled Tzileley hachaim (Shadows ofLife). He starts with the story SeWa maffseket...

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