S. Yizhar
Encyclopedia
Yizhar Smilansky better known by his pen name
S. Yizhar , was an Israeli writer and a great innovator in modern Hebrew
literature.
His pen name
was given to him by the poet and editor Yitzhak Lamdan, when in 1938 he published Yizhar's first story Ephraim Goes Back to Alfalfa in his literary journal Galleons. From then on, Yizhar signed his works with his pen name.
to a family of writers. His great uncle was Israeli writer Moshe Smilansky. His father, Zev Zass Smilensky, was also a writer.
After earning a degree in education, Yizhar taught in Yavniel, Ben Shemen
, Hulda
, and Rehovot
. He served as a professor of education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
until his retirement. In 1986-7 he was Visiting Writer at the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University
, and he continued to lecture regularly in Teacher Education at Levinsky College in Tel Aviv
well into the late 1990s. In addition to his literary writing, he wrote opinion pieces for the newspapers.
Yizhar was elected to the first Knesset
in 1949, remaining a Knesset member until losing his seat in the 1955 elections
. He returned to the Knesset in October 1956 as a replacement for Aharon Becker
. In 1965 he defected to David Ben-Gurion
's new Rafi party, but resigned from the Knesset on 20 February 1967 and was replaced by Aryeh Bahir
.
. His knowledge of Israeli geology
, geomorphology
, climate
, and flora is evident in his landscape descriptions and his emphasis on the relationship between person and place.
Yizhar's use of language is unique. With his long sentences and combination of literary Hebrew and street jargon, he draws the reader into his heroes' stream of consciousness.
From the end of the 1930s to the 1950s, Yizhar published short novellas, among them Ephraim Goes Back to Alfalfa, On the Edge of the Negev, The Wood on the Hill, A Night Without Shootings, Journey to the Evening's Shores, Midnight Convoy, as well as several collections of short stories.
In 1949, he published the novella Khirbet Khizeh, in which he described the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from their village by the IDF
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. It became a best-seller and in 1964 was included in the Israeli high school curriculum. In 1978, a controversy arose after a dramatization of Khirbet Khizeh by director Ram Loevy
was aired on Israeli television. In 1988, when Benny Morris
published The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, S. Yizhar "announced himself as the man who had laid bare the original sin of the State of Israel".
In the late 1950s, his massive work Days of Ziklag
appeared, comprising two volumes and more than a thousand pages. This work had a powerful impact on changing the outlook for Hebrew prose on the one hand, and "war literature" on the other.
Although Yizhar remained in the public eye as an outstanding polemicist, he broke his decades-long literary silence only in 1992 with the publication of his novel, Mikdamot. This was quickly followed by five additional new volumes of prose, both novels and collections of short stories. His last work, Gilui Eliahu (Discovering Elijah), set in the period of the Yom Kippur War
, was published in 1999 and later adapted for the stage. The play won first prize at the prestigious Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre
in 2001.
Yizhar also wrote stories for children in which he contended with the defining themes of his youth, as in Oran and Ange concerning the Israeli cultivation of citrus fruits; Uncle Moshe's Chariot, a memoir of the character of his famous uncle Moshe Smilansky; and others.
In 2005, he was voted the 164th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
S. Yizhar , was an Israeli writer and a great innovator in modern Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
literature.
His pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
was given to him by the poet and editor Yitzhak Lamdan, when in 1938 he published Yizhar's first story Ephraim Goes Back to Alfalfa in his literary journal Galleons. From then on, Yizhar signed his works with his pen name.
Biography
Yizhar was born in RehovotRehovot
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
to a family of writers. His great uncle was Israeli writer Moshe Smilansky. His father, Zev Zass Smilensky, was also a writer.
After earning a degree in education, Yizhar taught in Yavniel, Ben Shemen
Ben Shemen
Ben Shemen is a moshav in central Israel. Located around four kilometres east of Lod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi'in Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 627....
, Hulda
Hulda
Hulda may refer to:*Hulda, an Icelandic poet*Hulda an opera by César Franck*Hulda, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel*Huldah, a Biblical prophetess*Hulda-Hrokkinskinna, an Icelandic manuscript*Mother Hulda, a German folk tale...
, and Rehovot
Rehovot
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
. He served as a professor of education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
until his retirement. In 1986-7 he was Visiting Writer at the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and he continued to lecture regularly in Teacher Education at Levinsky College in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
well into the late 1990s. In addition to his literary writing, he wrote opinion pieces for the newspapers.
Yizhar was elected to the first Knesset
Israeli legislative election, 1949
Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in newly independent Israel on 25 January 1949. Voter turnout was 86.9%. Two days after its first meeting on 14 February 1949, legislators voted to change the name of the body to the Knesset...
in 1949, remaining a Knesset member until losing his seat in the 1955 elections
Israeli legislative election, 1955
Elections for the third Knesset were held in Israel on 26 July 1955. Voter turnout was 82.8%.-Results:Mapai retained its plurality in the Knesset, although its share of the vote dropped by 5.1 and its share of seats dropped from 47 to 40...
. He returned to the Knesset in October 1956 as a replacement for Aharon Becker
Aharon Becker
Aharon Becker was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1955 and 1974.-Biography:Born in Kobryn in the Russian Empire , Becker was educated at a heder and gymnasium. He joined Tze'irei Zion, and was a member until it was shut down by Bolshevik authorities in 1920...
. In 1965 he defected to David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
's new Rafi party, but resigned from the Knesset on 20 February 1967 and was replaced by Aryeh Bahir
Aryeh Bahir
Aryeh Bahir was an Israeli politician who served a member of the Knesset for Mapai, Rafi, the Labor Party and the Alignment.-Biography:Born in Odessa in the Russian Empire , Bahir studied at the Hebrew Gynmasium and Polytechnic in his home city, and was a memebr of Hashomer Hatzair...
.
Literary career
Yizhar's early work was influenced by Uri Nissan GnessinUri Nissan Gnessin
Uri Nissan Gnessin was a Russian Jewish writer, generally considered a pioneer in modern Hebrew literature.-Early life:He was born in Starodub, where his father was a rabbi...
. His knowledge of Israeli geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
, climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
, and flora is evident in his landscape descriptions and his emphasis on the relationship between person and place.
Yizhar's use of language is unique. With his long sentences and combination of literary Hebrew and street jargon, he draws the reader into his heroes' stream of consciousness.
From the end of the 1930s to the 1950s, Yizhar published short novellas, among them Ephraim Goes Back to Alfalfa, On the Edge of the Negev, The Wood on the Hill, A Night Without Shootings, Journey to the Evening's Shores, Midnight Convoy, as well as several collections of short stories.
In 1949, he published the novella Khirbet Khizeh, in which he described the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from their village by the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. It became a best-seller and in 1964 was included in the Israeli high school curriculum. In 1978, a controversy arose after a dramatization of Khirbet Khizeh by director Ram Loevy
Ram Loevy
Ram Loevy is an award-winning Israeli television director and screenwriter since the medium first began broadcasting in the country in 1968...
was aired on Israeli television. In 1988, when Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
published The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, S. Yizhar "announced himself as the man who had laid bare the original sin of the State of Israel".
In the late 1950s, his massive work Days of Ziklag
Days of Ziklag
Days of Ziklag is a novel by S. Yizhar, first published in 1958. It is widely considered to be one of the most prominent works in Israeli literature....
appeared, comprising two volumes and more than a thousand pages. This work had a powerful impact on changing the outlook for Hebrew prose on the one hand, and "war literature" on the other.
Although Yizhar remained in the public eye as an outstanding polemicist, he broke his decades-long literary silence only in 1992 with the publication of his novel, Mikdamot. This was quickly followed by five additional new volumes of prose, both novels and collections of short stories. His last work, Gilui Eliahu (Discovering Elijah), set in the period of the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
, was published in 1999 and later adapted for the stage. The play won first prize at the prestigious Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre
Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre
The Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre is a four-day performing arts festival held annually in the city of Acre, Israel during the Intermediate Days of the Sukkot holiday in early autumn...
in 2001.
Yizhar also wrote stories for children in which he contended with the defining themes of his youth, as in Oran and Ange concerning the Israeli cultivation of citrus fruits; Uncle Moshe's Chariot, a memoir of the character of his famous uncle Moshe Smilansky; and others.
Awards
- In 1959, Yizhar was awarded the Israel PrizeIsrael PrizeThe Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, for literature. - In 1959, he was awarded the Brenner PrizeBrenner PrizeThe Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation.It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner and was first awarded in 1945....
for literature. - In 1960, he was awarded the Lamdan PrizeLamdan PrizeThe Lamdan Prize was an Israeli prize awarded annually, from 1954 to 1983, for literary works for children and youth.The prize was presented by the Ramat Gan Municipality in conjunction with the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and was founded in the name of the Israeli poet and author Yitzhak...
for children's literature. - In 1991, he was awarded the Bialik PrizeBialik PrizeThe Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...
for literature. - In 2002, he received the EMET PrizeEMET PrizeThe Emet Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an annual Israeli prize given for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far reaching influence and significant contribution to society....
. - He is also the recipient of the Ben-Gurion Prize..
In 2005, he was voted the 164th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
Ynet
Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
External links
- Works of S. Yizhar at the Jewish National and University LibraryJewish National and University LibraryThe National Library of Israel , is the national library of Israel...
of the Hebrew University of JerusalemHebrew University of JerusalemThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J... - Elisha Porat, "From the Edge of the North to the Edge of the Negev", essay on the sources of S. Yizhar's work, on the site "Literatura" (in Hebrew)
- Joseph Galron-Goldschläger, editor. "S. Yizhar", in Modern Hebrew Literature: a Bio-Bibliographical Lexicon (in Hebrew).
- "S. Yizhar" bibliography at the Institute for Translation of Hebrew Literature
- "'It is a filthy war, this'" HaaretzHaaretzHaaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
obit by Yitzhak Laor, 25 Aug 2006 - Yizhar Smilansky GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
obituary by Lawrence Joffe, 24 August 2006 - English excerpt from Yizhar's autobiographical novel "Preliminaries"
- Rachel Donadio on Khirbet Khizeh, The New York Times Sunday Book Review, "Cultural Crossroads of the Levant", 29 June 2008
- Khirbet Khizeh, English translation http://www.ibiseditions.com/home/forthcoming4.html
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients
- List of Bialik Prize recipientsBialik PrizeThe Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...