Biblical and Talmudic Allusions in Sarah Feiga Meinkin`s Novel Ahavat Yesharim (1881)

AHAVAT YESHARIM (Vilna, 1881) by Sarah Feiga Meinkin (1854-1937) is as far as known the first Hebrew novel written by a woman. Meinkin, who is better known by her later married name Foner, was one of a few 19^th Century Eastern European Jewish women who acquired proficiency in Hebrew in spite of the exclusion of women from formal Jewish education. AHAVAT YESHARIM is also the only novel written by a woman within the Hebrew literature of the Enlightenment (Haskalah).

Foner Meinkin possessed a comprehensive knowledge of Biblical and Talmudic Literature, and like the other Hebrew novelists of her time, she embedded in her writing fragments of Biblical phrases, as well as some Post-Biblical expressions. This style known as shibutz originated in Medieval Hebrew poetry composed in Spain, and reintroduced into Modern Hebrew Literature by Avraham Mapu, the first Hebrew novelist. Like the other writers of the Enlightenment or Maskilim, Foner Meinkin incorporated new allusions into the Biblical and Talmudic phrases in her writing, which enhanced the novel’s theme and the portrayal of its characters. In addition, she incorporated covert or overt allusions that expressed her unique point of view as a woman writer. These allusions are analyzed according to the linguistic model set up in the literary school known as Gynocritics (Women’s Writing Criticism), established by Elaine Showalter, in comparison with the allusions used by the Maskilim: Mapu, Abramovich, Smolenskin and others.

Note: The lecture will be delivered in Hebrew.