Iberian Jewish Literature: Between al-Andalus and Christian Europe

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“Contextualizing Jewish-Hebrew culture in the Iberian (Islamo-Arabic and Christian-Latin-Romance) environment , Decter explores issues such as homeland and exile, identity, estrangement, nostalgia, cultural boundaries, hybridity. These issues maintain a vital dialogue with contemporary literary criticism and cultural studies.” —Tova Rosen, Tel Aviv University “[A] most welcome and unique contribution to medieval Hebrew literary studies. Its scholarship is sound, it offers excellent translations of many primary texts, and its prose is well written.” —Ross Brann, Cornell University “[Decter] brings to bear a vast array of scholarship from the Arabic and Romance fields, as well as medieval Hebrew literature.” —Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych, Indiana University http://iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 Iberian Jewish Literature Between al-Andalus and Christian Europe Jonathan P. Decter This stimulating and graceful book explores Iberian Jewish attitudes toward cultural transition during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when growing intolerance of Jews in Islamic al-Andalus and the southward expansion of the Christian Reconquista led to their relocation from Islamic to Christian domains. By engaging literary topics such as imagery, structure, voice, landscape, and geography, Jonathan P. Decter traces attitudes that range from tenacious longing for the Islamic past to comfort in the new Christian environment . Through comparison with Arabic and European vernacular literatures, Decter elucidates a medieval Hebrew poetics of estrangement and nostalgia, poetic responses to catastrophe, and the refraction of social issues in fictional narratives. This book brings to life the voices of Jewish writers of the period as they negotiate their identities between the Islamic and Christian worlds. Decter’s clear and engaging treatment of the interplay among Islamic, Jewish, and Christian cultures in medieval al-Andalus is an important reminder of how these worlds were once intertwined . Jacket illustration from the Cervera Bible, c. 1300, by permission of the National Library, Lisbon Jonathan P. Decter is Assistant Professor and the Edmond J. Safra Professor of Sephardic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. Published with the generous support of the Koret Foundation Judaica Literature INDIANA INDIANA University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis Iberian Jewish Literature Decter Iberian Jewish Literature IBERIAN JEWISH LITERATURE Between al-Andalus and Christian Europe Jonathan P. Decter Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis Publication of this book is made possible in part by generous support from the Koret Foundation. This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2007 by Jonathan P. Decter All rights reserved Chapter 1 of this book is reproduced with permission of Prooftexts, where it appeared in slightly modi¤ed form; part of chapter 7 is a modi¤ed excerpt from an article that appeared in Jewish Studies Quarterly. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Decter, Jonathan P., date Iberian Jewish literature : between al-Andalus and Christian Europe / Jonathan P. Decter. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-34913-2 (cloth) 1. Hebrew poetry, Medieval—Spain—Andalusia—History and criticism. 2. Hebrew poetry, Medieval—Spain—History and criticism. 3. Jewish religious poetry, Hebrew—Spain—Andalusia—History and criticism. 4. Jewish religious poetry, Hebrew—Spain—History and criticism. 5. Jews—Spain—Andalusia—Intellectual life. 6. Jews—Spain—Intellectual life. 7. Andalusia (Spain)—In literature. 8. Spain—In literature. I. Title. PJ5023.D43 2007 892.4′1209384—dc22 2006038451 1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08 07 In loving memory of Lawrence K. Horberg ...