Sabine Koller – författare

"At the turn of the twentieth century East European Jews underwent a radical cultural transformation, which turned a traditional religious community into a modern nation, struggling to find its place in the world. An important figure in this ''Jewish Renaissance'' was the American-Yiddish writer and activist Joseph Opatoshu (1886-1954). Born into a Hassidic family, he spent his early childhood in a forest in Central Poland, was educated in Russia and studied engineering in France and America. In New York, where he emigrated in 1907, he joined the revitalizing modernist group Di yunge - The Young. His early novels painted a vivid picture of social turmoil and inner psychological conflict, using modernist devices of multiple voices and mixed linguistic idioms. He acquired international fame by his historical novels about the Polish uprising of 1863 and the expulsion of Jews from Regensburg in 1519. Though he was translated into several languages, Yiddish writing always fostered his ideas and ideals of Jewish identity. Although he occupied a key position in the transnational Jewish culture during his lifetime, Opatoshu has until recently been neglected by scholars. This volume brings together literary specialists and historians working in Jewish and Slavic Studies, who analyse Opatoshu''s quest for modern Jewish identity from different perspectives. The contributors are Shlomo Berger (Amsterdam), Marc Caplan (Baltimore, MD), Gennady Estraikh (New York), Roland Gruschka (Heidelberg), Ellie Kellman (Boston), Sabine Koller (Regensburg), Mikhail Krutikov (Ann Arbor, MI), Joshua Lambert (Amherst, MA), Harriet Murav (Urbana-Champaign, IL), Avrom Novershtern (Jerusalem), Dan Opatoshu (Los Angeles), Eugenia Prokop-Janiec (Krakow), Jan Schwarz (Lund), Astrid Starck (Basel/Mulhouse), Karolina Szymaniak (Krakow) and Evita Wiecki (Munich)."

"At the turn of the twentieth century East European Jews underwent a radical cultural transformation, which turned a traditional religious community into a modern nation, struggling to find its place in the world. An important figure in this ''Jewish Renaissance'' was the American-Yiddish writer and activist Joseph Opatoshu (1886-1954). Born into a Hassidic family, he spent his early childhood in a forest in Central Poland, was educated in Russia and studied engineering in France and America. In New York, where he emigrated in 1907, he joined the revitalizing modernist group Di yunge - The Young. His early novels painted a vivid picture of social turmoil and inner psychological conflict, using modernist devices of multiple voices and mixed linguistic idioms. He acquired international fame by his historical novels about the Polish uprising of 1863 and the expulsion of Jews from Regensburg in 1519. Though he was translated into several languages, Yiddish writing always fostered his ideas and ideals of Jewish identity. Although he occupied a key position in the transnational Jewish culture during his lifetime, Opatoshu has until recently been neglected by scholars. This volume brings together literary specialists and historians working in Jewish and Slavic Studies, who analyse Opatoshu''s quest for modern Jewish identity from different perspectives. The contributors are Shlomo Berger (Amsterdam), Marc Caplan (Baltimore, MD), Gennady Estraikh (New York), Roland Gruschka (Heidelberg), Ellie Kellman (Boston), Sabine Koller (Regensburg), Mikhail Krutikov (Ann Arbor, MI), Joshua Lambert (Amherst, MA), Harriet Murav (Urbana-Champaign, IL), Avrom Novershtern (Jerusalem), Dan Opatoshu (Los Angeles), Eugenia Prokop-Janiec (Krakow), Jan Schwarz (Lund), Astrid Starck (Basel/Mulhouse), Karolina Szymaniak (Krakow) and Evita Wiecki (Munich)."

This book is an outcome of the international academic conference on Joseph Opatoshu held in Regensburg on 22–24 April 2012. It brings together literary specialists and historians working in Jewish and Slavic Studies.

Jüdische Kulturgeschichte ist alles andere als ein festgelegtes Forschungsgebiet, sondern setzt sich aus vielen und immer neuen Fragestellungen zusammen: Da geht es um Philosophie, Religion, Geschichte, Literatur, Gesellschaft und Politik – und bei all dem um Würde und Ethik, um Zuschreibungen und Ausgrenzungen, um Machtstrukturen und um Verfolgung. Jüdische Geschichte, Lebensrealitäten und Identitätsbildungen spielen in der europäischen und globalen Geschichte eine wichtige Rolle. Mitunter fanden diese Themen in der Geisteswissenschaft nur wenig Beachtung, doch ist hier inzwischen einiges im Umbruch. Statt bekannten Wegen tun sich neue Horizonte auf!Durchblicke. Horizonte jüdischer Kulturgeschichte enthält die Beiträge des Symposiums zum zehnjährigen Bestehen des Zentrums für Jüdische Kulturgeschichte der Universität Salzburg. Diese setzen Akzente in etlichen Bereichen der Jüdischen Studien: in der kulturwissenschaftlichen Sicht auf Judentum, Christentum und Islam in der Spätantike, der jüdischen Geschichte und Literatur des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, der Sprachlosigkeit und des künstlerischen und literarischen Zeugnisses angesichts des Holocaust und nicht zuletzt der jiddischen Literatur und Kultur.