In a groundbreaking new historical account, this book locates the origins of modern Jewish literature within the turbulent events that reshaped Europe during the late eighteenth century: the partitions of Poland, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars. Ofer Dynes argues that Jewish intellectuals turned to fiction to engage in political debates and make sense of new state structures imposed by Austrian, Russian, and Prussian rule. Through literature, Jewish writers positioned themselves as interpreters, mediators, and, at times, collaborators with the new imperial powers.
Reading modern Hebrew and Yiddish literature as rooted in the awareness of wider political upheaval, Dynes traces how authors navigated multiple local and imperial belongings. Radically expanding the literary canon, he uncovers a diverse and often unexpected array of figures and texts. Connecting Jewish fiction with broader trends in European history, this book presents a previously untold story of how Jewish writers used literature to grapple with a shifting political landscape in the age of Enlightenment and empires.