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The Impact of Post-Traumatic Stress on the Poetry of Amir Gilboa

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The Impact of Post-Traumatic Stress on the Poetry of Amir Gilboa From Crying Comes Light: The Impact of Post-Traumatic Stress on the Poetry of Amir Gilboa by Yona Katz A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature and Judaic Studies Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto © Copyright by Yona Katz 2014 From Crying Comes Light: The Impact of Post-Traumatic Stress on the Poetry of Amir Gilboa Yona Katz Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature and Judaic Studies Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto 2014 Abstract The research starts by explaining the theoretical basis for the impact of post-traumatic stress on the poetry of Amir Gilboa, as well as on individual who have been traumatized by extreme events. The first chapter focuses on Gilboa’s reconstruction of Holocaust testimonials as expressed in his poetry. This includes referring to the question of whether artistic expression is possible after Auschwitz. Chapter Two focuses on post-traumatic stress as it is reflected in Gilboa’s final posthumously published book of poems entitled Amir Gilboa: The Days are Coming; Poems 1942-1946 (edited and introduced by Hagit Halperin). This book was written during the war and the Holocaust but only published in 2007. The importance of this collection of poems is that they are conducive to a fresh understanding of the poet and his oeuvre. The poems present the poet's inner-struggle regarding writing poetry during war time, and the guilt of not being able to save his family. ii Chapter Three delineates Gilboa's response and relationship to Jewish-national destruction. Since the descriptions of destruction in Gilboa's poetry draw upon his personal feelings of trauma, there is a convergence of the individual and the national collective in his poetry. Chapter Four deals with: The "Binding" Motif (haAkedah) as an expression of the victim and the (Holocaust) survivor’s feelings, including those of second generation survivors. Chapter Five presents research regarding the revival that arises from the destruction in Gilboa’s poetry. The underlying assumption is that there is a directḥ connection between destruction and lamentation and renewal and redemption. Chapters Six and Seven connect Gilboa to early Agnon, both in Yiddish and in Hebrew, as well as to Bialik’s poetry, and as an innovative "young" poet alongside Amichai and Ravikovich. I demonstrate that in addition to the continuity between Bialik's poetry and Gilboa's poetry there is a strong innovative streak in his oeuvre, apparent in the development of modern structures. This comparison places Gilboa as a poet who stands between two generations. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation reflects my appreciation of Hebrew language and literature, including its Judaic sources. Even though I am submitting it in English I would like to note that I wrote it first in Hebrew, the original language of Gilboa's poems. Under the supervision of Professor Harry Fox, I researched the biblical, talmudic and midrashic sources of Amir Gilboa's poems. Through the years, Professor Fox directed my attention to the many references that contributed to the final thesis. I would like to thank Professor Harry Fox for six years of teaching, care and help. Professor Tirzah Meacham introduced me to the Bar-Ilan Jewish Database, a tool that changed the horizon of my research forever. I am also grateful to Professor Meacham for her approach in analyzing Aramaic grammar, comparisons between Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmudim, as well as the Aramaic targumim of the Bible. I am grateful to Professor Libby Garshowitz for her ongoing support in improving the translation of some Hebrew poems into English, as well as her invaluable advice in Medieval and Modern Hebrew Literature, including the medieval philosophy of the Kuzari. I am grateful to Professor Thomas Lahusen who introduced me to theories of Trauma and Post Traumatic symptoms in his Comparative Literature course "Memory, Trauma and History." iv I am grateful to Dr. Tzemah Yoreh for his help in editing and translating some material and poems for this dissertation. Many thanks to my committee members: Professor Miryam Segal whose invaluable advice and close reading of my dissertation assisted me greatly. I also thank Professor Anna Shternshis who widened the scope of my research. Many thanks to the Travel Grant for Graduate Research in Israel for assisting me in my research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Gilboa's archive Kip Centre at the University of Tel-Aviv. Thanks to the Universities' libraries in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, and Ramat-Gan, as well as to Be't Agnon in Jerusalem and Be't haSofer in Tel-Aviv, who granted me access to material about Gilboa. Many thanks to Amir Gilboa's widow, Gabriella Gilboa, for welcoming me graciously in Tiberias and for helping me understand her husband's life as a poet as well as the loss of his family in the Shoah. I thank the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto for assisting me during the course of my studies. Special thanks to Anna Sousa for her warm support and care. I thank the Centre for Jewish Studies for their additional support. Finally, many warm thanks to my family and friends for their patience while I was researching and writing this dissertation. v Table of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………… ii Acknowledgments …………………………………………………………………………… v Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………………….... vi Abbreviations ………..…………………………………………………………………...… xii Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….…………. 1 I Amir Gilboa's Place in the Canon of Modern Hebrew Poetry ………………….….…..…. 2 II Gilboa's Position as a Poet who Describes the Holocaust Experience…………....…........ 8 III Research Trends Relating to Gilboa's Poetry ……...…………………………………... 10 IV Excursus: Comparative Studies ………………………………………………....….…. 18 V Review of Previous Scholarship ………………………………………………...……… 20 Chapter 1: Gilboa’s Reconstruction of Holocaust Testimonials …..……………………..… 31 1.1 Preface: Amir Gilboa ……………………………………………………………….…. 31 1.2 Writing Artistically about the Holocaust ........................................................................ 32 1.3 Gilboa’s Right to Write Fictional Testimony ................................................................. 35 1.4 Post-Traumatic Symptoms ..…………………..…………………….…………………. 42 vi 1.5 Reconstructing Events through a Child’s Eyes .............................................................. 49 1.6 Flashback and Guilt ………………………………………………………....……..….. 53 1.7 Memories and Acts of Remembrance ………………………………………..…….….. 59 1.8 From Individual to Collective Trauma ……………….……………………...……..…..62 1.9 Paul Celan and Gilboa …………………………….………………….……….………. 64 1.10 Conclusions ………………………………….……………………..…………...…… 68 Chapter 2: Post-Traumatic Stress in The Days are Coming: Poems 1942-1946 .................. 70 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 70 2.2 Hidden Manuscript: The Days are Coming ……………………………..……..…..….. 71 2.3 The Motto of The Days Are Coming Collection …….…………………...……...……. 77 2.4 Poems Found Hidden in the Manuscript Published in 2007 ……….…..…………....... 81 a. "Voices Call" 82 b. "Lights to Heaven" 93 c. "To Grace from Afar and Cry for the Blood" 97 d. "To the Winds with Melody" 100 e. "Like that Once More to Amass Power" 105 f. "Every Time Returning to the Days which were Lost" 107 2.5 A Comparison between the Hidden Manuscript of The Days are Coming, published in 2007, and the 1949 "Seven Domains" …………….…………….……111 2.6 Conclusions………………………………………………………………...…….……120 vii Chapter 3: Responses to National Destruction………………..…………..………..………123 3.1 Introduction: Amir Gilboa’s Response to Jewish National Destruction.…………...…123 3.2 A Poetic Response to the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile…….....126 3.3 The Silence of Extinction ...……………………………………………..……..…..… 132 3.4 Recommendations for Avoiding War and Denunciation of the Use of Power……..…139 3.5 The Legend in Gilboa's "Memorial Prayer" and its ties to Bialik’s "The Scroll of Fire" …………………………………………………………………………..……………....… 143 3.6 "A Locked Garden is Burning," including the Hidden Stanzas ..………..……...…… 147 3.7 "I Wanted to Write the Lips of Sleepers" ..................................................................... 149 3.8 Communicating the National Mission: Warning of the Destruction …………......….. 158 3.9 Objection to Receiving Reparations from Germany .................................................... 162 3.10 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 169 Chapter 4: The "Binding" Motif as an Expression of the Victim and the (Holocaust) Survivor's Feelings ………...………………..……………………………...……. 172 4.1 Introducing the Binding of Isaac …..………………………….….……………….…. 172 4.2 Midrashic Sources on the Binding of Isaac ………………….……..…………......…. 175 4.3 An Unrealized Binding: The Biblical Story of the Binding and the Midrashim in viii Liturgical Poetry ………….……………..………………..………………….…..… 181 4.4 The Binding of Isaac as a Symbol of Rebirth and Resurrection …........……….......... 183 4.5 The Binding Taking Place: Sanctifying God's Name as Martyring Oneself.……….... 186 4.6 Survivor's Guilt in Gilboa's Poems ……………………………………….………..… 194 4.7 The Use of the Word Ma'akhelet (knife) in Gilboa's Poetry…………………………. 205 4.8 The Use of the Binding Motif as Criticism in the Bellicose Reality of Israel……...... 210
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