-
Edition 21 (2009) Winner
David G. Roskies
デイヴィッド・ジー・ロスキース
Deividdo Jī Rosukīsu
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1948 （Montreal）
- Nationality
- Canada
- Languages
- Yiddish, English
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Montreal, Canada → New York, United States
Career
- Occupations
- literary scholar, cultural historian, author, Professor of Yiddish Literature
- Active Years
- 1971-2024
- Affiliations
- Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Memberships
- Prooftexts: A Journal of Jewish Literary History (co-founder)
- Influenced By
- Isaac B. Singer, Melech Ravitch, Itsik Manger, Avrom Sutzkever
- Influenced
- Ruth Wisse
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandeis University | — | Jewish Literature | Ph.D. | — | United States |
Brandeis University
Jewish Literature
Degree:
Ph.D.
Year of Graduation:
1975
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize | Against the Apocalypse: Responses to Catastrophe in Modern Jewish Culture | — | Phi Beta Kappa | winner |
| 1985 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | fellow |
Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize
1984
Work:
Against the Apocalypse: Responses to Catastrophe in Modern Jewish Culture
Organization:
Phi Beta Kappa
Result:
winner
Guggenheim Fellowship
1985
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
fellow
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Night Words: A Midrash on the Holocaust
1971 Liturgical literatureOne of the first liturgies on the Holocaust.
Holocaust
Adaptations
- [Hebrew adaptation]
- [Audiocassette]
Against the Apocalypse: Responses to Catastrophe in Modern Jewish Culture
1984 Cultural historyResponses to catastrophe in modern Jewish culture.
HolocaustApocalypse
Translations
- Russian
- Hebrew
The Literature of Destruction: Jewish Responses to Catastrophe
1989 Literary criticismJewish literary responses to catastrophe.
DestructionJewish literature
The Dybbuk and Other Writings by S. Ansky
1992 Edited worksThe Dybbuk and other writings by S. Ansky.
FolkloreDybbuk
A Bridge of Longing: The Lost Art of Yiddish Storytelling
1995 Literary historyThe lost art of Yiddish storytelling.
Yiddish literatureFolklore
Yiddishlands: A Memoir
2008 MemoirMemoir of modern Yiddish culture through family history.
Yiddish cultureFamily history
Bibliography
- Night Words: A Midrasch about the Holocaust
- The Shtetl Book: An Introduction To East European Jewish Life And Lore
- Against the Apocalypse: Responses to Catastrophe in Modern Jewish Culture
- The Literature of Destruction: Jewish Responses to Catastrophe
- The Dybbuk and Other Writings by S. Ansky
- A Bridge of Longing: The Lost Art of Yiddish Storytelling
- The Jewish Search for a Usable Past
- Introduction to Itzik Manger, The World According to Itzik
- Scribblers on the Roof: Contemporary Jewish Fiction
- Yiddishlands: A Memoir
- Holocaust Literature: A History and Guide
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- ScholarlyHistorical analysisYiddish-centered
- Recurring Motifs
- HolocaustEast European Jewish shtetlFolklore and fantasySearch for a usable past
Legacy
Internationally recognized Canadian literary scholar, cultural historian, and author specializing in Yiddish literature and Eastern European Jewish culture, focusing on Holocaust literature and Ashkenazic Jewish folklore.
Trivia
- Born to a family that emigrated from Vilnius to Montreal in 1940.
- His grandmother Fradl Matz ran the famous Matz Press in Vilnius.
- His mother Masha's home in Montreal was a salon for Yiddish writers like Isaac B. Singer.
- Brother of Harvard professor Ruth Wisse.