Abstract

S. Y. Abramovitsh's two novels, Ba-yamim ha-hem (Of Bygone Days) and Shloyme reb khayims (Shloyme the Son of Khayim), Yiddish and Hebrew versions of the same novel, have been read by critics across the ideological spectrum as sentimental novels, not central to the author's corpus. This article offers a reconsideration of these novels, arguing that they represent Abramovitsh's attempt to transform himself into a modern Jewish writer, moving away from his longtime narrative persona, Mendele the Book Peddler, and creating Shlomo, the modern Jewish writer. In these works, Abramovitsh grapples with the loss of the traditional social context for his writing by embracing new aesthetic forms, including a new narrative persona and a nostalgic third-person narrative voice. Nostalgia in Abramovitsh's late works is not merely romantic sentimentality but also a conscious literary strategy to cope with the rapid pace of social and cultural transformation.

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