Language:
English
Year of publication:
1996
Titel der Quelle:
Jewish Social Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
3,1 (1996) 1-19
Keywords:
Wiesel, Elie,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
Abstract:
Compares the style and content of Elie Wiesel's autobiographical novel "La nuit" (1958) with an earlier Yiddish version of his memoirs, "Un di velt hot geshvign, " published in Buenos Aires in 1954. The Yiddish version describes a survivor furious with the world's disinterest in his history, frustrated with the failure of the Jews to fulfill "the historical commandment of revenge, " and depressed by the apparent pointlessness of writing a book. The French version depicts the survivor as a witness expressing silence and death. Discusses what happened to the rage which disappeared between the Yiddish and the French versions, in the context of Wiesel's meeting with Francois Mauriac in 1954, Mauriac's Christological reframing of the Jewish Holocaust, and Wiesel's change of tone in his writings to accommodate to a Christian readership. No longer the enraged seeker of revenge, the survivor is a religiously potent emblem of martyrdom, and Jewish martyrdom in particular. See the response by Eli Pfefferkorn and David H. Hirsch, "Elie Wiesel's Wrestle with God" ["Midstream" 43 (Nov 1997) 20-22].
Description / Table of Contents:
Pfefferkorn, Eli; Hirsch, David H.. Elie Wiesel's wrestle with God. [A response to N. Seidman.] Midstream 43,8 (1997) 20-22.
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