The Anti-Imperial Choice: The Making of the Ukrainian Jew

This Book Is The First To Explore The Jewish Contribution To, And Integration With, Ukrainian Culture. Yohanan Petrovsky-shtern Focuses On Five Writers And Poets Of Jewish Descent Whose Literary Activities Span The 1880's To The 1990's. Unlike Their East European Contemporaries Who Disparaged The Culture Of Ukraine As Second-rate, Stateless, And Colonial, These Individuals Embraced The Russian- And Soviet-dominated Ukrainian Community, Incorporating Their Jewish Concerns In Their Ukrainian-language Writings. The Author Argues That The Marginality Of These Literati As Jews Fueled Their Sympathy Toward Ukrainians And Their National Cause. Providing Extensive Historical Background, Biographical Detail, And Analysis Of Each Writer's Poetry And Prose, Petrovsky-shtern Shows How A Ukrainian-jewish Literary Tradition Emerged. Along The Way, He Challenges Assumptions About Modern Jewish Acculturation And Ukrainian-jewish Relations. Front Matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Politics Of Names And Places: A Note On Transliteration -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. A Prayer For Ukraine: The Improbable Identity Of Hryts'ko Kernerenko -- Chapter 2. Between Two Fires: The National-communist Utopia Of Ivan Kulyk -- Chapter 3. Writing The Body: The Passion And Freedom Of Raisa Troianker -- Chapter 4. Being For The Victims: Leonid Pervomais'kyi's Ethical Responses To Violence -- Chapter 5. A Messiah From Czernowitz: The Language And Faith Of Moisei Fishbein -- Epilogue -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index Yohanan Petrovsky-shtern. Bibliographic Level Mode Of Issuance: Monograph Includes Bibliographical References (p. 323-335) And Index. English