Short stories have usually been relegated to marginal status in Hebrew literature, as if they were "a training ground, the foreplay before the real thing", as Maya Arad wrote in her Master of the Short Story (Xargol 2009). Nevertheless, especially in light of the waning importance attached to generic classifications in general, the present course will inquire into the roots of the short story in Hebrew literature, its characteristics, evolution and acceptance. The main argument to be presented in the course is that the short story's drawbacks have worked to its advantage: ever since its birth as a modern form in Hebrew literature its marginal status has been exploited by writers as a medium for introducing fascinating esthetic innovations.
The course will deal with stories by Yehuda Leib Gordon, Gershon Shofman, Yosef Haim Brenner, S.Y. Agnon, Amalia Kahana-Carmon, Dahlia Rabikowitz, David Grossman, Yoel Hoffman and Etgar Keret. These writers are not just representatives of an age and its poetics, but also poets, novelists and artists in whose works the short story played variety of different poetic functions.