This introductory course to Brenner's work contains a polemic aspect. The course suggests that the entire process of acceptance and canonization of Brenner’s persona and of his literary oeuvre throughout the twentieth century was deeply influenced by the prevailing ideal and literary norm of “Realism.” Brenner’s canonical status as a realist writer dimmed the poetic qualities of his specific works and prevented the discussion of his literary period as a period of early Hebrew modernism. Through the study of Brenner's short stories, “By the Way,” “Nerves” and “From Here and There,” as well as of several of his literary essays, this course will approach Brenner as a modernist writer. We will deal with the aesthetic and political implications of the approach to Brenner’s “modernist” moment, as well as Brenner's essential place in the plot of the advent of Modern Hebrew national literature.

The students are expected to prepare for the cluss, to attend regularly, to participate actively and to submit a final paper.