辛格犹太民族幽默

1、ContentsChinese Abstract2English Abstract21. Introduction41.1 Singer and his works41.2 Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories42. Literature review52.1 Research on Singer52.2 Jewish Humor Research62.3 On Singers Jewish Humor72.4 Humor research on Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories73. Jewish humor in Zlateh

2、 the Goat and Other Stories83.1 The theme83.2 Characters93.3 Environment113.4 Psychology124. Summary13References15山羊兹拉特及其他故事中的犹太式幽默摘 要犹太民族是一个历经了无数磨难却在磨难中顽强地屹立不倒的一个民族。犹太式幽默是犹太人身上所具有的一种独特的幽默，正是这种幽默使他们在极其艰巨的困难中存活下来。辛格作为犹太人，他对犹太民族以及犹太文化有着深厚的情感，在山羊兹拉特及其他故事中很多故事都体现出这种幽默。此篇论文主要分析小说中的主题、人物、环境，然后进一步分析小说中的犹太式

3、幽默。此文通过搜集有关艾萨克巴什维斯辛格、犹太式幽默以及山羊兹拉特及其他故事的相关文献资料,旨在促进大家对犹太文学和犹太文化的理解。关键词：辛格；犹太民族；幽默15Jewish Humor in Zlateh the Goat and Other StoriesAbstractThe Jewish nation is a nation that has gone through countless hardships but is still tenacious nowadays. Jewish humor is a kind of unique humor of Jewish people,

4、 which makes them survive in difficulties. As a Jew, Singer has deep feelings for the Jewish nation and Jewish culture, which is reflected in many stories in Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories. This paper mainly analyzes the theme, characters and environment of the stories, further analyzes Jewish hu

5、mor. This paper aims to promote peoples understanding of Jewish literature and culture through the collection of literature about Isaac Bashevis Singer, Jewish humor and Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories.Key words: Isaac Bashevis Singer; Jewish people; Humor1. Introduction1.1 Singer and his worksIsa

6、ac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991) is a famous Jewish American writer and Nobel Prize winner, “a great novelist beyond time and space” and “Hawthorne in Yiddish”. He began to write at the age of 15, with high production and quality. In his whole life, he created 8 novels, 7 short stories, 11 childrens s

7、tories, 2 plays and 3 memoirs, totaling more than 30 works. His masterpieces include the Muscats, the Manor, Jimpel the Fool, Satan in Goray, etc. In terms of language use, Singers novels are simple and humorous. In addition to the language style, Singers novels also have their own writing features,

8、 which are story telling, trauma theme and thought-provoking ending. In terms of theme, believing in God is one of the themes in Singers works. From the perspective of characters, Singers works can be roughly divided into two categories: one is about the story of Polish Jews before World War II, and

9、 the other is about the experience of Jews in the United States. Singer describes the life of the Jewish nation in a realistic way, so that readers all over the world can understand an important trend and mainstream of American Literature in the 1960s and the 1970s Jewish literature. Moreover, Singe

10、rs insistence on writing in Yiddish language saved a traditional civilization.1.2 Zlateh the Goat and Other StoriesZlateh the Goat and Other Stories is Singers first and most important childrens book. The collection of short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories, contai

11、ns seven stories, namely, Fools Paradise, Grandmothers Tale, The snow in Chelm, The Mixed-up Feet and the Silly Bridegroom, The First Shlemier, The Devils Trick, Zlateh the Goat. The protagonists in the story are both the fool and the wise. They often bring happiness to the readers with their own sh

12、rewdness and occasional stupidity. There are not only the son of merchant who understand the meaning of life from the false death, but also the stupid but highly respected elders, a silly bridegroom who can screw up everything, a little boy who fights with the devil, and a considerate and brave goat

13、. These stories are witty and very touching. Morris Sandaks illustrations are so subtle that they complement the story. Five of the seven stories mention the Jewish festival of temple building. Because Singer himself is a Polish Jew, his story contains strong Jewish customs and habits on Eastern Eur

14、opean areas.2. Literature review2.1 Research on SingerScholars research on Singer mainly focuses on four aspects: first, the debate on Singers “Jewishness”. Critics such as Irving Howe and Edward Alexander think Singer is a writer with “Jewishness”. The argument is that Singers works focus on Jewish

15、 traditional culture; however, critics such as Joseph C. Landis and Milton Hinders deny Singers “Judaism”(乔国强，2008：72). The argument is that there are too many descriptions of sex and ghost, which do not conform to the tradition of Jewish writers. The second is the study of the modernity of Singers

16、works. Irving Howe, Eugene Gidhart and Richard Burgin respectively analyze the modernity of Singers works from three aspects: the content with expressionism described in Singers works; the irony and absurdity of writing style and narrative strategy. The third is the postmodern study of Singers works

17、. Bakers “Isaac Bashevis Singers misogyny” discusses Singers works from the perspective of feminist criticism, which shows his aversion to women（高璐，2013(32): 41-42）. Fourth, the study of Singer himself and his influence on his creation. “Isaac Bashevis Singer: a life story”, written by Jane Harda in

18、 1997, comprehensively narrated the social and personal factors affecting Singers literary creation, and the profound analysis provided valuable information and help for the follow-up research.After the 21st century, the domestic research on Singer has been in full bloom, and the quantity and qualit

19、y of research have been greatly improved. Qiao Guoqiang(2008) points out that Singer is social in terms of Jewishness, and he thinks that the view that Singers works deviate from Yiddishs literary tradition is not convincing. Yue Xin (2010) discusses the theme of Singers “the magician of Lublin”. By

20、 describing Yashas betrayal and conversion to Judaism and the loss and return of morality, he represents the process of Jews struggling to seek identity and survival balance in the collision of different faiths, traditions and cultures. Li Fangling (2017) analyzed the construction of narrative struc

21、ture of Singers early short story Spinoza on the Market Street from three perspectives of space, plot and psychology, showing the remarkable characteristics of Singers novels focusing on story and plot.2.2 Jewish Humor ResearchHumor refers to the absurdity and surprise of something, which is implici

22、t or memorable in the way of expression. There are many kinds of humor, including crosstalk, black humor, white humor, cold humor and so on. Chinese scholar Qiao Guoqiang categorizes Jewish humor into the following two kinds, one that Jewish humor is playful and cynical, for the Jews are regarded as

23、 “The Chosen People” while they are often bullied and oppressed in the long history; the other that Jewish humor is dyed with color of comedy, especially in Jewish daily talking and chatting.(乔国强，2008: 436)Jewish humor is not Singers original creation, actually, it is based on Jewish culture. Becaus

24、e Jewish culture is a kind of suffering culture, which is formed by Jewish people in thousands of suffering and exiling. This kind of culture makes the Jewish people under the influence of it have a unique personality, that is, they are stupid and accustomed to ridicule. There is both sympathy and r

25、idicule, which is Singers humorous style in the story. It can make people laugh, uncomfortable, stuffy and irritable. It is a kind of suffering humor. Because the main characters of humor are mostly Jews, we can call it “Jewish Humor”.There are many studies on Jewish humor at home and abroad. Nevo (

26、1994) points out that in professional literature worldwide, the meaning of Jewish humor refers to humor originating in eastern Europe in the 19th century, where Jews lived in harsh conditions and faced real dangers to their lives. Pinsker says that “Jewish humor is often described as a laughter thro

27、ugh tears” (Pinsker, 1991: 13) . As Wang Changguo said in his book The Jews Looking for God, “the optimistic, open-minded and suffering humor of the characters in Singers works are full of the tragic meaning of humorous personality” (王常国, 2011: 65). Zhao ying (2014) discussed the Jewish humor of Mal

28、amud, penetrating life with tragedy and exploring life with comedy, which is an examination and reflection on the traditional Jewish culture, allowing people to appreciate the wisdom and thoughts of Jews in humor. Dan Ben, Zhang Juwen (2019) argued that the Jewish humor is a concept from a new persp

29、ective to build a kind of “mind-set” or “stereotypes”, there are two main causes of Jewish self-deprecating humor: Jewish thought of psychological uniqueness, social environment of the Jews. The uncertainty of identity in cultural duality and assimilation, as well as the education they received, bec

30、ame the source of self-mockery in Jewish humor.2.3 On Singers Jewish HumorZhang Qinwen (2000) analyzed Singers “Jewish Humor” from Schlemils literary phenomenon, and pointed out that Singers narrative text completed the dialysis of his national ethics and cultural mentality as well as the tragic per

31、sonality of his philosophy of life, and constituted a kind of ridicule beyond it; while the other topic significance and deep value of “Jewish Humor” reflected in the “kind of laugh at themselves” of modern humor spirit.2.4 Humor research on Zlateh the Goat and Other StoriesScholars mainly explore t

32、he theme of Singers novel Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories, including She Yilings article “Rebuilding the Spiritual Soundation: The Analysis of the Theme of Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories” (2012), Liu Honglis article “From Crisis to Salvation: The theme of the Novel” (2011), etc. But many of the

33、 stories in this story collection reflect Singers Jewish humor and express his self mockery. The suffering humor can be really felt by the readers between the lines. Therefore, the study of Jewish humor in Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories will help readers better understand Singers creation and emo

34、tions. R. Barbara Gitenstein argues that there is strong satire in Singers short stories, “It is the satire on the religious and scholarly tradition that affords Singers book its most striking humor” (Barbara, 1981: 109) . 3.Jewish humor in Zlateh the Goat and Other StoriesSingers characters are bot

35、h wise and foolish. They can always bring happiness to readers with their own shrewdness and occasional foolishness. Singers focus has always been on the ordinary people in the Jewish community, which runs through Shlemiels image and embodies a Jewish humor aesthetic way. This article will analyze t

36、he Jewish humor in Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories from four aspects: theme, characters, psychology and environment.3.1 The ThemeIn Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories, Levine had to sell their goat Zlateh to the butcher because of their livelihood. The protagonist of this novel, Aron, was a 12-year

37、-old boy. He didnt even know why he sent Zlateh to favels house. They met a snowstorm on their way. The snow was so fierce that Aron and Zlateh could only live by each other. They came to a hay hole. Aron had eaten all the food he had brought, so Zlateh gave Aron her milk, and she let Aron lie besid

38、e her to keep warm. Even though the dark night was frightening, it was Zlatehs presence that gave Aron hope. Finally, on the fourth day, when the snowstorm finally stopped, Arons family found Aron and Zlateh, and saw they hugged each other tightly. After that, they no longer offered to sell Zlateh.

39、Furthermore, if Arons mother made pancakes, he always had a share of Zlateh. Zlateh has become Arons one family member and a friend. The novel shows that people and animals are equal, they trust each other, and the more important eternal theme is love. Love is a way to achieve spiritual self salvati

40、on, and the meaning of emotion is more important than the meaning of material interests; only by giving love can we gain love, and regain trust; only by abandoning the material desire to rebuild the spiritual foundation of the increasingly fallen can we get real salvation (刘红丽, 2011(12): 36). It is

41、impossible for people who have no deep understanding of life and no optimistic attitude towards life to have humor. In many peoples eyes and cognition, animals cant speak, and there is no emotion between people and animals. But through this kind of humor, we can understand the world more deeply, rea

42、lize the emotion between people and animals, moreover, people and animals can even become friends or family members, for emotion is beyond language. 3.2 CharactersSinger has created many idiots in this anthology of childrens story, including the wise and the fool, the fool of the child and the fool

43、of the adult. It is these seemingly ridiculous idiots that bring us reflection and Enlightenment on life. Through these idiots, we can better understand the use of Jewish humor in the novel. Singer focuses on happiness, even if the content of the article is essentially sad. These characters are funn

44、y, so they have sympathy and ridicule. Singer successfully uses Jewish humor with relaxed plots and exquisite writing skills to reveal the mood of optimism and hope in the pessimism of the little characters, so as to show a helpless and absurd world.For example, Lemel, the silly bridegroom in Mixed-

45、Up Feet and the Silly Bridegroom, is a character who doesnt know how to be flexible. Schmelka is the future father-in-law of the silly bridegroom. In order to give Lemel a gift to go back, the father-in-law gave him a little knife of mother of pearl, but because Lemel put the knife in the haystack o

46、f the carriage, he lost it. The second gift was a jar of refined chicken oil. This time Lemel put it in her pocket. At last, the jar broke and the chicken oil was sprinkled. Similarly, the third gift, a silver coin; the fourth gift, some hens new eggs; the fifth gift, a live duck; the sixth gift, a

47、goldfish; whatever the gift is, it will be lost or killed by Lemel. So they went to consult the elder of the Chelm. The elder said that if the wedding was finished as soon as possible, Lemel would not have to send the gifts from one place to another, and those gifts would not suffer misfortune.It se

48、ems that this matter has been solved. The silly bridegroom does not need to send one thing from one place to another after that, but the foolishness of the bridegroom has not changed because of the wedding. From the beginning to the end, this matter has not changed qualitatively. It can be imagined

49、that after the wedding ceremony, Lemel will still lose or kill things and make a mess of things. At that time, the elders may come together to discuss a good way to solve the problem.Although Lemel was stupid, no one blamed him, but only to find a new solution. This may be the deep emotional connect

50、ion between Jews that Singer wants to convey to us. They help each other and love each other. From this we can see the brilliance of human nature of small people. This sincerity transcends suffering and the world.The second special character is the first person to be called Schlemier, whose name com

51、es from the Yiddish word “Schlemie”, to the effect that he is a clumsy person or a fool. In the long history, the Jewish people have experienced suffering, and they have constantly to endure and accept the oppression of life, experiencing famine, becoming slaves, or being forced to flee because of c

52、ivil strife, besides, poverty is one of the painful things that the Jews have experienced. Schlemier lives in the small town of Chelm and endured the pressure and ridicule of life. The novel tells the story of the protagonists wife who is afraid that he will eat a jar of jam when she goes out, so sh

53、e deceives the protagonist that jam is poisonous. The protagonist is scolded for not doing well what his wife told him to do when she went out. He thinks its meaningless to live like this, and then eats his wifes jar of jam by mistake. The ending of the story is amusing, but here we can see the plig

54、ht of living Jews in Singers works. As to this Sanford Pinsker points out that “a schlemiel is one who handles a situation in the worst possible manner or is dogged by an ill luck that is more or less due to his own ineptness.” (Pinsker, 1991: 2) However, we can see that in the story Schlemier has a

55、 good character that he is willing to shoulder responsibilities without complaining and he also wishes to do everything well. In his dream, Schlemier dreamed that he was the richest man in Chelm . He could eat pancakes with jam every day. He won the game and became famous. Then all the people rushed

56、 to make him king. When he woke up, he was scolded for his mistakes. Every suffering Jew, like Schlemier , was eager to be liberated and free and led an ideal life.This kind of tragic and funny sense is closely combined, which gives birth to Jewish humor. The painful memory and strong desire for rea

57、l solution make people think deeply. When we look back on their suffering and this history, we seem to understand them and sympathize with them. Patience and self-mockery can exist simultaneously, because they are born with a kind of optimism. The protagonist Schlemier thought it was meaningless to

58、live, but when he learned that the jam he had eaten was not poison, he cried happily again. He could live again. Besides, neighbors sent a new jam, and they had a happy Shura temple festival. Optimism is not only a characteristic of Schlemier, but also of the Jewish people. No matter how much suffer

59、ing they face, they firmly believe in all the bad luck would pass and face life with a smile. It is this optimistic spirit that makes them continue to face life after self mockery.3.3 EnvironmentThere are two novels about snow, which plays an important role in promoting the development of the story. The frequent occurrence of s