In Search of 'Authentic' Anglo-Jewish Poetry: The Debate Over A.M. Klein's Poems (1944)

Type of resource
Authors/collaborators
Title
In Search of 'Authentic' Anglo-Jewish Poetry: The Debate Over A.M. Klein's Poems (1944)
Abstract
An examination of the debate over a volume of poems written by Montreal poet A.M. Klein (1909-1972) and published by the Jewish Publication Society of America in 1944. Based on correspondence in the JPS archives, the author explores Jewish cultural life in the 1940s. Specifically given the culture imposed by the surrounding North American Anglophone values at the time, Klein's manuscript raised two questions which the author examines: what standards should English language Jewish poetry seek to uphold -- what qualities identify a poem as being 'authentically' Jewish?; and more broadly, what controls should a Jewish publisher seek to exercise -- what should it agree to print and what should it reject? Eight readers reviewed Klein's manuscript for JPS, and each came back with a different opinion as to whether the poems should be published. The author examines the debate between Klein and JPS that eventually led to the publication of the manuscript.
Book Title
From Ancient Israel to Modern Judaism: Intellect in Quest of Understanding: Essays in Honor of Marvin Fox
# of Volumes
4
Place
Atlanta, GA
Publisher
Scholars Press
Date
1989
Pages
125-135
Language
en
ISBN
1-55540-341-7
Citation
Sarna, Jonathan D. “In Search of ‘Authentic’ Anglo-Jewish Poetry: The Debate Over A.M. Klein’s Poems (1944).” In From Ancient Israel to Modern Judaism: Intellect in Quest of Understanding: Essays in Honor of Marvin Fox, edited by Jacob Neusner, Ernest S. Frerichs, and Nahum M. Sarna, 125–135. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1989.
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