A New Sound in Hebrew Poetry: Poetics, Politics, Accent

Cover

A New Sound in Hebrew Poetry Segal INDIANA INDIANA University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis www.iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 With scrupulous attention to landmark poetic texts and to educational and critical discourse in early twentieth-century Palestine, Miryam Segal traces the emergence of a new accent to replace the Ashkenazic or European Hebrew accent in which almost all modern Hebrew poetry had been composed until the 1920s. Segal takes into account the broad historical , ideological, and political context of this shift, including the construction of a national language, culture, and literary canon; the crucial role of schools; the influence of Zionism; and the leading role played by women poets in introducing the new accent. This meticulous and sophisticated yet readable study provides surprising new insights into the emergence of modern Hebrew poetry and the revival of the Hebrew language in the Land of Israel. Miryam Segal is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical, Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures at Queens College, the City University of New York. Jewish Literature and Culture Alvin H. Rosenfeld, editor Jacket illustration: Nehama Edinger, watercolor, 2008 Judaica Literary Criticism & Theory “A brilliant exposé of an alternative history and theory of the genesis of new accent, or Israeli, or Land of Israel–accented Hebrew. . . . The work will become the new standard on the history of this development in modern Hebrew.” —Robert Alter, University of California, Berkeley “[A New Sound in Hebrew Poetry] is an exploration in depth of a linguistic phenomenon in which the cultural history of Zionism, the history of modern Hebrew literature, and the history of modern Hebrew prosody are conflated. Informed by a sophisticated understanding of the significance of prosodic developments, as well as by an innate and well-trained sensitivity to the music of poetry, Miryam Segal’s book will not be bypassed by serious historians of modern Hebrew literature and culture.” —Dan Miron, Columbia University How a new accent emerged in the Land of Israel A New Sound in Hebrew Poetry Poetics, Politics, Accent Miryam Segal A New Sound in Hebrew Poetry Jewish Literature and Culture Series Editor, Alvin H. Rosenfeld ...