CFP Sholem Aleykhem: New Perspectives in Comparative Context (Edited volume): 300-word abstract, including a brief bio, by Nove
This edited volume marking the centennial of Sholem Aleykhem's death (May 1916), will explore the writer's vast contributions to Yiddish literature through comparison with authors of other national literatures. The aim of the collection is to analyze the work of this foundational Yiddish writer in comparative context in order to bring to light hitherto unexplored aspects of his achievements. Often called "the Jewish Mark Twain" – due to similar writing style and use of pen name – Sholem Aleykhem's favorite writers spanned the spectrum of world literature –
among them: Sterne, Dickens, Twain, Tolstoy and Gorky. In the last century, he has been compared to the major authors of European, American and Russian literature from the eighteenth- to the early twentieth-centuries. Parallels have also been made with ancient Greek literature, Shakespeare, Cervantes, African and even Indian literature. Sholem Aleykhem was a great admirer of Charlie Chaplin – and comparisons with media (film, visual art, etc.) are also welcome.
Rather than direct influence, we are looking for essays that explore the parallels (thematic, formal or otherwise) between Sholem Aleykhem and another national artist – and that discuss the ideas, literary traditions, political, cultural or social realities that engendered them. Approaches may span the vast spectrum of relevant literary and cultural traditions, including romanticism, realism, the picaresque, comic traditions (Falstaff, Mr. Micawber), and many other genres and movements. One unifying approach could be a focus on turn-of-the-twentieth-century literature and art (1860-1920). However, readings that pursue a different period but discuss valid parallels, including their cultural, social or political foundations – are equally welcome.
Comparative literary contexts may include (but are not limited to):
Russian Lit: Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Nekrasov, Schedrin, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gorky…
German Lit: Grimmelshausen, Schiller, Hoffman, Heine, Hauptmann, Mann…
French Lit: Rabelais, Le Sage, Voltaire, Balzac, Dumas, Hugo, Sue, Henri Barbier…
Italian Lit.: Boccaccio, Cellini, Verga…
Spanish Lit: Juan Ruiz, Cervantes, Mateo Aleman, Quevedo…
English Lit: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Nashe, Defoe, Swift, Fielding, Sterne, Thackeray, Dickens…
Scottish and Irish Lit: Smollett, Sterne, Scott, Beckett…
Scandinavian Lit: Ibsen, Strindberg, Lagerlof, Hamsun, Astrid Lindgren…
American Lit: Twain, Henry James, O. Henry, Steinbeck…
African Lit: Amos Tutuola, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Wole Soyinka, Ahmadou Karouma…
Arab Lit: Al-Hamadhani, Al-Saraqusti, Al-Hariri…
Ancient Greek and Roman Lit: Plato, Plautus, Ovid, Petronius, Apuleius…
Please send a 300-word abstract, including a brief bio, by November 30, 2015 to:
supervising.editor.universitas@gmail.com
Completed papers should be 6000-8000 words, MLA format with a Works Cited page, expected March 1, 2016.
Contact Email: supervising.editor.universitas@gmail.com
Website: http://www.universitaspress.com