The terrible power of a minor guilt : literary essays / Abraham B. Yehoshua ; translated from the Hebrew by Ora Cummings.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yehoshua, Abraham B., 1936-2022.

Contributor:

Cummings, Ora.

Standardized Title:

Essays. Selections. English

Language:

English

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Ethics in literature.

Literature--Aesthetics.

Literature.

Guilt in literature.

Physical Description:

xxii, 145 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

[Syracuse, N.Y.] : Syracuse University Press, 2000.

Summary:

What is the relationship between literature and morality? Theater and ethics? Film and moral values? It has become unfashionable for today's critics to make even fleeting references to the moral issues raised by novels, stories, plays, and films. The renowned Israeli novelist and critic Abraham B. Yehoshua considers these crucial questions and illuminates his reading of nine texts -- from the story of Cain and Abel to Camus, from Dostoyevsky to Raymond Carver -- by admitting the moral dimension into his critical appraisals.

How is the aesthetic value of a piece of writing to be established? In addition to traditional criteria, such as psychological complexity, originality of subject matter, and use of language, Yehoshua demonstrates how characters, who undergo moral as well as intellectual development and discover a capacity to transform themselves, embody literature's greatest achievements.

Contents:

Part 1 Moral Diversions Using the Text's Aesthetic Structure

1. What Was the Real Punishment Inflicted on History's First Murderer?

The Biblical Story of Cain and Abel, Genesis 4 3

2. The Morals of a Husband Who Lets His Wife Die in His Place

Alcestis / Euripides 17

3. The Absurd as a Moral Guide

"The Guest" / Albert Camus 41

Part 2 The Moral Boundaries of Psychology

4. Morality Based on Guilt or Morality Based on Sympathy

"The Way Out" and Nerves / Joseph Chaim Brenner 59

5. The Terrible Power of a Minor Guilt

The Eternal Husband / Fyodor Dostoyevsky 74

Part 3 The Moral Responsibility of Denial Processes

6. Society Pays Homage to a Murderess with a Freshly Cut Rose

"A Rose for Emily" / William Faulkner 89

7. A Father and a Daughter in an Unconscious Relationship

In the Prime of Her Life / S. Y. Agnon 108

Part 4 Moral Development as Aesthetic Value

8. How to Build a Moral Code on a Used Shopping Bag

"Cathedral" / Raymond Carver 133.

ISBN:

0815606567

OCLC:

43985727