Feelings of isolation and trauma from the Holocaust in the 20th-century Canadian Jewish short story

Title: Feelings of isolation and trauma from the Holocaust in the 20th-century Canadian Jewish short story
Variant title:
  • Sentiments d'isolement et de traumatisme liés à l'Holocauste dans la nouvelle canadienne-juive
Source document: The Central European journal of Canadian studies. 2019, vol. 14, iss. [1], pp. 77-86
Extent
77-86
  • ISSN
    1213-7715 (print)
    2336-4556 (online)
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Rights access
embargoed access
 

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Abstract(s)
Canadian Jewish writers of short stories belonged to dual contexts and thus had to adapt to two different contexts – a mainstream one and a minority one. This article analyses short stories mostly from an anthology edited by Norman Ravvin and devoted to works of Canadian Jewish authors: Not Quite Mainstream Canadian Jewish Short Stories. In this anthology, the reader finds examples of subtle discrimination or a cultural shock (in Chava Rosenfarb's "The Greenhorn" or in Robyn Sarah's "A Minor Accident"), but also short stories dealing with the great suffering of Jews fleeing from German concentration camps to safety in the Soviet Union (in Rochl Korn's "Bluma Zelinger" and Roma Gelblum-Bross's "The Black Valises"). In addition to some Canadian Jewish authors, I examine two stories by Barry Callaghan, coming to the conclusion that Callaghan's stories offer a similar kind of experience. The stories examined in this article express the feelings of anxiety, trauma, nostalgia or horror experienced during the Second World War, but they also depict Canadian society through the eyes of a minority. The values present in these stories contribute to humanism and understanding among a variety of ethnic and social groups.
Les écrivains juifs canadiens de nouvelles appartenaient à deux contextes et devaient donc s'adapter à deux contextes différents : un contexte traditionnel et un contexte minoritaire. Cet article analyse des nouvelles tirées principalement d'une anthologie éditée par Norman Ravvin et consacrée à des œuvres écrites par des auteurs juifs canadiens : Not Quite Mainstream Canadian Jewish Short Stories. Dans cette anthologie, le lecteur trouve des exemples de discrimination subtile ou de choc culturel (dans "The Greenhorn" de Chava Rosenfarb ou dans "A Minor Accident" de Robyn Sarah), mais aussi de nouvelles relatant les grandes souffrances des Juifs fuyant les camps de concentration allemands pour se mettre en sécurité en Union soviétique (dans "Bluma Zelinger" de Rochl Korn et "The Black Valises" de Roma Gelblum-Bross). J'examine aussi deux nouvelles de Barry Callaghan et en conclus qu'elles offrent une expérience similaire. Les nouvelles examinées dans cet article expriment les sentiments d'anxiété, de traumatisme, de nostalgie ou d'horreur éprouvés pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, mais elles décrivent également la société canadienne à travers des yeux d'une minorité. Les valeurs présentes dans ces nouvelles contribuent à l'humanisme et à la compréhension entre divers groupes ethniques et sociaux.
References
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[2] Callaghan, Barry. "Our Thirteenth Summer." In All the Lonely People. Barry Callaghan, location 793–928. Exile Editions, Holstein, Ontario, 2018. Kindle edition.

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[17] Rosenfarb, Chava. "The Greenhorn In Ravvin (ed.) Not Quite Mainstream, 75–86.

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[20] Zipper, Yaacov. "That First Morning." In Ravvin (ed.) Not Quite Mainstream , 17–22, trans. by Ode Garfinkle and Mervin Butovsky.