For a long time, multilingual aspects in literature have been overlooked due to the focus on binaries caused by the approaches towards national philologies. However, in the past two decades, the many linguistic influences within long-considered monolingual texts have been discussed in more depth. Jewish literatures might be considered an exception in this context as they have been composed throughout history under multilingual influences. Not being restricted to solely one language can be a great opportunity and opens new pathways to language creativity, but it can also challenge a writer. The editors of the Yearbook 2024 of the Association for European-Jewish Literature Studies – Judith Müller, Ido Ben Harush, and Jan Kühne – aim to bring together articles that trace the challenges and richness of multilingual interrelations in Jewish literatures.
This call for papers is issued in the context of a research group on Jewish languages and multilingualism in Jewish literatures situated at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem. For the first year, the group met monthly to discuss the individual projects of its members. At its current state, we aim at an in-depth discussion of published texts – either literary or theoretical. The volume is, therefore, to some parts composed of texts written by the group’s members and dedicated to different questions of multilingualism in Jewish literatures. The editors would also like to invite additional scholars working on this topic to submit an article and enrich the volume with their contributions.
Topics that are of particular interest to us:
- The literary interrelation of different languages (Arabic, German, Hebrew, Ladino, Spanish, Yiddish, etc.)
- The multilingual self and its other (author, narrator, translator…)
- Processes of translation, trans-phonation, and transcription in Jewish Literatures
Please submit your abstract of up to 300 words by May 15, 2023, to after.babel2024@gmail.com. Full articles are due by September 30, 2023. Contributions in German are also welcome. As the research group plans to meet in autumn for a two-day workshop, this can also be an opportunity to discuss contributions among authors in person. Articles will be peer-reviewed. If you want to participate in our virtual research group dedicated to Jewish literary multilingualism, please send us an e-mail.