Contemporary Jewish Writing in Brazil

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Contemporary Jewish Writing in Brazil

An Anthology

Edited and translated by Nelson H. Vieira

Jewish Writing in the Contemporary World Series

386 pages

Hardcover

January 2010

978-0-8032-4662-1

$60.00 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

January 2011

978-0-8032-2696-8

$60.00 Add to Cart

About the Book

Contemporary Jewish Writing in Brazil showcases a diverse range of modern Jewish writers from one of South America’s most vibrant, multicultural communities. Brazil’s population is largely Catholic; its Jewish population today numbers about 120,000 mostly upwardly mobile Jews living in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Pôrto Alegre. Brazilian Jewish writers often use the testimonial and fantastic modes of Latin American literature to expose anti-Semitism, explore the challenges and opportunities for the Jewish diaspora in South America, and reexamine historical and cultural connections to the Old World. This anthology features the work of such internationally recognized figures as Moacyr Scliar and Clarice Lispector, including two early stories by Lispector that have never before appeared in English translation. Of special note are Samuel Rawet, the father of modern Jewish writing in Brazil; Alberto Dines, a prominent public and literary figure in the 1970s and 1980s; and more recently acclaimed writers such as Cíntia Moscovich.

Author Bio

Nelson H. Vieira is a professor in the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and the Department of Judaic Studies at Brown University. He is the editor and translator of Samuel Rawet’s The Prophet and Other Stories and the author of Jewish Voices in Brazilian Literature: A Prophetic Discourse of Alterity.
 
Contributors: Bernardo Ajzenberg, Roney Cytrynowicz, Alberto Dines, Francisco Dzialovsky, Judith Grossmann, Jacó Guinsburg, Marcos Iolovitch, Paulo Jacob, Esther Largman, Jaime Lerner, Eliezer Levin, Clarice Lispector, Elisa Lispector, Samuel Malamud, Cíntia Moscovich, Rosa Palatnik, Samuel Rawet, Samuel Reibscheid, Sônia Rosenblatt, Moacyr Scliar, and Amália Zeitel.

Praise

"[Contemporary Jewish Writing in Brazil] is an all-around worthy introduction to a body of writing that may be new to many members of the Anglophone reading public."Naomi Lindstrom, Shofar

"This anthology . . . belongs in every research library in America."Clifford E. Landers, Review 83

"This anthology is an excellent resource for anyone interested in literature, not only for academics. . . . It incorporates a variety of texts and authors, some that have immigrated to Brazil and some that were already born there, from different generations, with different views of what it means to be Jewish."Paula Rodriquez Pontes, South Atlantic Review

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Interview with Moacyr Scliar

Marcos Iolovitch

      Excerpts from On a Clear April Morning

Clarice Lispector

      Passage

      Me and Jimmy

Elisa Lispector

      Excerpt from In Exile

      Out of Sheer Despair

Jacó Guinsburg

      Miriam

      Figures in the Darkness

Samuel Rawet

      Christmas without Christ

      Moira

Rosa Palatnik

      Two Mothers

Judith Grossmann

      Mrs. Büchern in Lebenswald

Alberto Dines

      Excerpts from Death in Paradise: The Tragedy of Stefan Zweig

Sônia Rosenblatt

      Excerpts from Clouded Memories

Samuel Malamud

      Excerpt from Stops in Time

Francisco Dzialovsky

      Excerpt from The Third Testament

Eliezer Levin

      New York, New York

      A Schoolmaster's Requiem

      The Seed from Safed

      The Tenth Man

      Mr. Samuel

Paulo Jacob

      Excerpts from A Patch of Moonlight Fell on the Jungle

Amália Zeitel

      Strawberries with Cream

Esther Largman

      Excerpt from Polish Girls

Bernardo Ajzenberg

      Excerpt from Goldstein & Camargo

Roney Cytrynowicz

      The Secret Life of the Clocks

      Shed II

Samuel Reibscheid

      My Name Is Job

Moacyr Scliar

      In the Bosom of Abraham

      The Children of the Androgyne

      The Necrologists

Jaime Lerner

      Legacy

Cíntia Moscovich

      Sheine Meidale

Acknowledgments

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