Mordekhai David Brandstetter: A Maskil Beyond His Time
Mordekhai David Brandstetter: A Maskil Beyond His Time

Summary/Abstract: Mordekhai David Brandstetter (1844−1928) was one of the prominent creators of Hebrew Haskalah literature in its latest phase. His most celebrated contribution is connected with HaShahar, the leading periodical of late Haskalah literature, edited by Peretz Smolenskin between 1869−1884. Most of the readings of Brandstetter’s writings have focused so far on the dozen short stories and novellas he published in HaShahar. Much less attention has been devoted to the later stage of his literary work that outstretched far beyond that era. This study focuses on those late works, some twelve stories that were written after the publication of Brandstetter’s collected writings in 1891. These stories are still rooted in Galician Jewish life, but they reflect the ambition to adhere to new materials and poetics, following the radical changes in Hebrew literature from the 1880’s onward towards realism, modernism and Zionism.

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