S. Y. Agnon
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| Born: | July 17, 1888 |
| Died: | February 17, 1970 |
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Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Hebrew: שמואל יוסף עגנון, July 17, 1888 - February 17, 1970) was the first Hebrew writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature (1966). He won the prize jointly with poet Nelly Sachs. His works are published in English under the name S. Y. Agnon (Hebrew: ש"י עגנון, pronounced "Shai Agnon").
One of the central figures in modern Hebrew fiction, Agnon was born in Galicia, later immigrated as a Zionist to Ottoman Palestine, and died in Jerusalem. His works deal with the conflict between the traditional Jewish life and language and the modern world. They also attempt to recapture the fading traditions of the European shtetl (village). In a wider context, he also contributed to the narrator's character in modern literature.
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[edit] Life
He was born as Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes in Buczacz in Austrian Galicia, in what is now Ukraine. Although his birthdate on the Hebrew calendar is given as 18 Av 5648 (July 26) by some sources, he himself was known to state his birthdate as the ninth, the Tisha B'Av commemoration. His father, Shalom Mordechai Halevy, was given semicha as a rabbi, but dealt in the fur trade. Young Shmuel did not go to school. He was educated by his parents. When he was eight he began to write in Hebrew and Yiddish, and read extensively in the writers of the Jewish enlightenment, the Haskalah. At the age of fifteen he produced his first creative work, a poem in Yiddish about the Kabbalist Joseph della Reina. He continued to produce poems and stories in Hebrew and Yiddish in manuscripts that were published in Galicia.
In 1908 he emigrated to Jaffa, which was then an Ottoman port. By doing so, he reached the land of Israel with the Zionists of the Second Aliyah. There he abandoned the Observant Jewish way of life for a time, but came back to the Torah and adhered to it for the rest of his life. The first work that he released there was "Forsaken Wives" (agunot), published in the journal Ha`omer in 1908. He signed it with the pen name "Agnon," derived from the name of the story. It became his literary name, and in 1924, his official surname.
In 1910 his story "Forsaken Wives" was translated into German. Since then, his works have been translated into many languages.
In 1912, at the initiative of Yosef Haim Brenner, he published the novella And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight.
In 1913 he moved to Germany, where he married Esther Marx in 1920. In Germany he met the businessman Salman Schocken, who became his patron, freeing him from financial worries. From that time on, all of his works were published by Schocken Books. His short stories regularly appeared in the newspaper Haaretz, also owned by the Schocken family. In Germany he wrote several stories. He also worked to collect Hasidic stories, together with Martin Buber, that influenced Neo-Hasidism.
In 1924 a fire broke out in his home, destroying all of his manuscripts. This traumatic event appears occasionally in his stories. Later that year, he returned to Jerusalem permanently, settling in the neighborhood of Talpiot. In 1929 his library was destroyed again.
In 1931 the novel The Bridal Canopy was published, making Agnon a central figure in Hebrew literature. In 1935 the novella A Simple Story was published, set in Buczacz at the end of the 19th century.
In 1945 Yesteryear was published, a novel set in the Land of Israel at the beginning of the 20th century.
Agnon won the Bialik Prize twice (1934 and 1950) and the Israel Prize twice (1954 and 1958). In 1966 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. This award came with a degree of disappointment when, after the announcement of his award, it became clear that it was joint with the Jewish poet Nelly Sachs. Thus "half" of the world's adulation was taken from him. The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to two winners is a rare occurrence, taking place only four times in the 20th century.
In his speech at the award ceremony, Agnon introduced himself in Hebrew: "As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem" (Frenz 1969)
The following story shows how greatly Agnon, the author and the man, was revered. He complained that the traffic on the street next to his house, in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, disturbed his writing. In response the city closed the street to vehicular traffic and posted a sign saying, "No entry to all vehicles, writer at work!"
Agnon died in Jerusalem on February 17, 1970. After his death his daughter, Emmuna Yaron, continued to work to publish writings from his legacy. More of his books were published posthumously than during his life.
Agnon's archive was transferred by his family to the National Library in Jerusalem. His home in Talpiot was turned into a museum, where the study where he wrote many of his works is preserved intact.
Agnon is considered the most researched author in Hebrew literature. A substantial number of books and articles dealing with his works have been published. Among his most outstanding scholars are Baruch Kurzweil, Dov Sadan, Nitza Ben-Dov and Dan Laor.
Agnon's image has appeared on the 50 shekel banknote since 1985.
[edit] Works
Agnon's works express Judaism in many of its aspects, such as customs, faith, and language. Agnon gives them his own touch and a unique commentary. They are all expressed in his works, which are unique in their content and language.
Agnon was also influenced by German literature and culture specifically and European literature in general, which he read in German translation. The budding Hebrew literature also influenced his works. Some of his protagonists are Zionists of the Second Aliyah.
The communities he passed through in his life are reflected in his works:
- Galicia: in the books The Bridal Canopy, A City and the Fullness Thereof, and A Guest for the Night.
- Germany: in the stories "Fernheim", "Thus Far", and "Between Two Cities".
- Jaffa: in the stories "Oath of Allegiance", "Yesteryear", and "The Dune".
- Jerusalem: "Prayer", "Yesteryear", "Ido ve-Inam", and "Shira".
Agnon's substantial selection of stories have been published in various collections. Some of his works, such as The Bridal Canopy, And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight, and The Doctor and His Ex-Wife, have been adapted for theater and performed in Israeli theaters. Some of them have aired on Israeli television.
[edit] Writings published during his life
The following stories and passages were first published in various manuscripts, and afterward were collected in eight volumes.
- The Bridal Canopy (1931), an epic describing Galician Judaism at the start of the 19th century.
- Of Such and Of Such, a collection of stories, including "And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight", "Forsaken Wives", and "In the Heart of the Seas".
- At the Handles of the Lock (1923), a collection of love stories, including "In the Prime of Her Life", "A Simple Story", and "The Dune".
- A Guest for the Night (1938), a novel about the decline of eastern European Jewery. The narrator visits his old hometown and discovers the great changes that occurred there since The First World War
- Yesteryear (1945), a novel set in the time of the second Zionistimigration wave.
- Near and Apparent, a collection of stories, including "The Two Sages Who Were In Our City", "Between Two Cities", "The Lady and the Peddler", the collection "The Book of Deeds", the satire "Chapters of the National Manual", and "Introduction to the Kaddish: After the Funerals of Those Murdered in the Land of Israel".
- Thus Far, a collection of stories, including "Thus Far", "Prayer", "Oath of Allegiance", "The Garment", "Fernheim", and "Ido ve-Inam".
- The Fire and the Wood, a collection of stories including Hasidic stories, a semi-fictional acount of Agnon's family history and other stories.
[edit] His special language
Agnon's writing often used words and phrases that differed from what would become established modern Hebrew. His distinct language is based on traditional Jewish sources, such as the books of Moses and the Prophets, Midrashic literature, the Mishnah, and the rabbinic legends. Some examples include:
- bet kahava for modern bet kafe (coffee house / café)
- batei yadayim (lit. "hand-houses") for modern kfafot (gloves)
- yatzta (יצתה) rather than the modern conjugation yatz'a (יצאה) ("she went out")
Bar-Ilan University has made a computerized concordance of his works in order to study his language.
[edit] Selected Books
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