Reading Opatoshu in the Years 1918–1939: The Polish Perspective

Asch, opatoshu, and others

During the inter-war period Yosef Opatoshu undoubtedly belonged to a small group of Yiddish writers who were reasonably well known in Polish literary circles. Admittedly, his popularity among Poles could not rival that of Sholem Asch, whose name appeared on the pages of all manner of Polish publications for the most varied of reasons, literary and other;¹ however, he was more significant than other contemporary Yiddish prose writers.

Let me briefly go over some key facts. In Poland between 1923 and 1935 translations of five of Opatoshu's novels appeared: W lasach polskich in 1923 (In poylishe velder, 'In Polish Forests', published in Yiddish in 1921); Polly, krew sobacza ('Polly, Dog's Blood') in 1927 (Fun nyu-yorker geto, 'From the New York Ghetto', published in Yiddish in 1914);² Romans koniokrada in 1928 (A roman fun a ferd-ganef, 'The Story of a Horse-Thief', published in Yiddish in 1912); Żydzi walczą o niepodległość Polski ('The Jews Are Fighting for Polish Independence') in 1931 (1863, published in Yiddish in 1926); and Dzień w Regensburgu in 1935 (A tog in Regensburg, 'A Day in Regensburg', published in Yiddish in 1933).³ Polish critics took note of their publication.⁴ I mention here only the editions of these works in book form, since, as was strongly emphasized at the time, it was these which stood the greatest chance of reaching Polish readers, who rarely read translations printed in the Polish Jewish papers.⁵ A screen version of W lasach polskich, made in 1928 by Jonas Turkow, was relatively widely noted in the Polish press,⁶ with famous Polish actors playing in it alongside Jewish artists.⁷ At the end of the 1930s, the Encyklopedia powszechna Ultima Thule included a biographical entry 'Josef Opatoszu',⁸ and information on the writer's work also appeared at that time in the overview of Jewish literature in the Wielka ilustrowana encyklopedia powszechna.⁹

The presence of Opatoshu's prose in Poland between the wars contrasts with its post-war oblivion.¹⁰ After 1945, none of his earlier translations were reissued, nor were any new translations of his novels undertaken. The writer's American works have relatively recently resurfaced: the story 'Czterech Murzynów' ('Fir negers', 'Four Negroes', published in Yiddish in 1922) was included in the dual-language anthology Warszawska awangarda jidysz published in 2005.¹¹ Some works devoted to his historical novels concerning the January uprising have also appeared relatively recently.¹²

All these circumstances lead us to recognize the years 1918–39 as the key to the Polish reception of Opatoshu's literary output. However, I must emphasize from the outset that the present-day state of bibliographical and literary-historical documentation does not allow us to provide a complete picture of the writer's critical reception in Poland at that time. Instead of a general survey or panorama of interpretations, I should like to present a number of characteristic ways in which his work was read and an introductory typology of its reception.

I adopt here the category of 'style of reception' (styl odbioru) of Michał Głowiński, the eminent Polish theoretician and literary historian. For him, a style of reception is a set of tendencies which define and regulate the process of reading. These 'sets of guidelines for reading'¹³ have a historical character; they are elements of a literary-historical context and are closely connected to a certain type of literary culture. In numerous case studies devoted to reception Głowiński particularly emphasizes the significance of the ideological and cultural context in which a work is created and read.¹⁴ This cultural context will be equally important in my analysis.

On the basis of the available sources I shall present two basic Polish styles of reception of Opatoshu's work between the wars: antisemitic and patriotic-integrationist.

An antisemite's reading: a hate-filled interpretation

The earliest and most extensive commentary on Opatoshu's prose, especially on his novel W lasach polskich...