Literature, history, choice : the principle of alternative history in literature (S.Y. Agnon, the city with all that is therein) / by Roman Katsman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Katsman, Roman.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History in literature.

Modernism (Literature).

Postmodernism (Literature).

Agnon, Shmuel Yosef, 1887-1970--Criticism and interpretation.

Agnon, Shmuel Yosef.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (335 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Starting with a discussion on the elements of the genre of alternative (counterfactual) history and on its place between the poles of historical determinism and relativism, this book develops a literary theory of the historical alternativeness principle and applies it to the reading of The City with All That is Therein (Ir u-mloa)one of the most important and less-studied books of the greatest Israeli writer, Nobel Prize winner S.Y. Agnon (1887-1970). The investigation reveals that this principle is by no means inherent solely in modernism and postmodernism, but lies at the very basis of the reading process, particularly at the levels of plot and character origination, and historical and historiographical conceptions that underlie the authoras imagination. - - The book is intended for all who are interested in modern literature and theory. - -

Contents:

Intro

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

Mythological Roots of Historical AlternativenessThinking

Motivation of Historical-Alternative Writing

Alternative History on the Map of Modern FantasyLiterature

Alternative History as Rhetoric Act

Mistakes and Missed Opportunities

CHAPTER TWO

Is Alternative History Based on Historical Relativism?

Is Alternative History a Model?

Is Alternative History Normalization of HistoricalMemory?

Is Alternative History Based on a Binary Modelof Extrapolation-Analogy?

CHAPTER THREE

Time, Narrative, and Reading

"Alternative Reading" as Methodology

Levels of Historical Alternativeness: Myth, Personality,Choice, and Mode of Choice

CHAPTER FOUR

Possibilistic Theory of Myth and Mythopoesis

Ethical and Chaotic Models of Mythopoesis

Counterfactual History and Determinism

Time and the Other. Retrospection and Anticipation

Difference and Repetition. Origination of Timeand Origination of Alternativeness

CHAPTER FIVE

Rhetoric

From Rhetoric as Untranslatability to Rhetoricas Alternativeness

Rhetoric and Incompleteness of MythopoeticRealization

Miracle as Alternativeness and Alternativenessas Miracle

CHAPTER SIX

Personality, Identity, and Character

Alternativeness vs. Substitutivity

Alternativeness vs. Psychological Syndromesof Dissociation

The problem of Personality's Uniquenessand Multiplicity

Identity and Re-identification

CHAPTER SEVEN

From Semiotic Square to a Dynamic Square of Choice

Algorithm of Choice. How to Choose?

From Historical to Historiographical Alternativeness

Theoretical Conclusionsand an Introduction to the Discussion of Agnon's Work

CHAPTER EIGHT

The City with All That Is Therein as Alternative History.Holocaust and Miracle.

Book Two. "The First Rabbis of Our City"

Fish and Salt: "In Search of a Rabbi,or The Spirit of the Ruler"

The Hollow of a Sling: "The Parable and the Moral"

CONCLUSIONS

WORKS CITED

INDEX OF NAMES.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 14, 2013).

ISBN:

1-4438-5384-4

OCLC:

865331062