Although Celan’s “major” language was German (a language he was raised with and wrote his poetry in), Celan’s work was also influenced by “minor” languages. The contrast between major and minor languages comes from Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s book Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature. In the book, the proposal is made that we rethink […]
When I first read Paul Auster’s “Pages for Kafka,” I was struck by the fact that, although he mentioned Kafka’s name in his title, he didn’t make any reference to Kafka’s name throughout the piece. Instead, Auster refers to “he” and “him” repeatedly. Here is one instance, which I cited in my last blog entry: […]
With the rise of anti-semitism in America – which I have experienced, personally; and see on social media, perpetually – I have been starting to think more about what it is and what we can do to – if possible – counter-act it. One era that I have studied in depth and written on in […]
Translating Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin’s notion of the flaneur into the language of the digital world, Kenneth Goldsmith argues that the flaneur “is hardwired into the ethos of the Internet”(65, Wasting Time on the Internet). We are, like the flanuer, constantly “browsing.” But as we do we become smaller and less noticeable. Goldsmith, drawing […]
Motl the Cantor’s Son is Sholem Aleichem’s last novel. Though unfinished,it is substantial. It tells the story of Motl – the orphan of a Cantor who died back in Europe (in fact, on the same day as the Baal Shem Tov was said to have tied – the second day of Shavuot) – and his […]
Extreme difference in size or scale is a staple of comedy, caricature, folklore, and literature. The Brothers Grimm, for instance, tell many stories about small people who comically stumble through the world and are thought not just to be small in scale but small minded. Take, for instance, “The Seven Swabians,” a story about how […]
I love poetry that – amidst its declamations – speaks directly and passionately to the reader. Paul Celan uses the word “you” in many of his poems. Although the word “you” may refer to his soul, his mother, a lover, God, and/or you the reader, the passion of dialogue that he sets forth remains. In […]
Things these days change so rapidly and they fall away without giving notice. The world – from time to time (and for some, moment to moment) – disappears and relationships lose their vitality. When one’s fantasies or dreams are crushed, this speeds up the process of real estrangement and loss. And then the option to […]
Maurice Blanchot’s writing is difficult and often opaque, but at least it’s consistent. We see this throughout his books. To read Blanchot, is to ask the right questions. The task of the reader is to figure out what the problems and paradoxes Blanchot is pondering are and to figure out what his approach to them […]
One of the most interesting questions that the Kabbalah addresses deals with how one is to imagine God’s relationship to Creation. The models that were sketched out to address this question have affected how Kabbalists have envisioned not just God but their experience of God in the world. Is the relationship straightforward and simple or […]
Schlemiel Theory 