Between decadence and rebirth: The fiction of Levi Aryeh Arieli

This dissertation analyzes the literary work of Levi Aryeh Arieli (1886–1943) as part of an exploration of the relationship between secularization, racial anti-Semitism, and the blossoming of Hebrew Literature at the beginning of the twentieth century. Desirous of giving full aesthetic expression to the Jewish psyche, Arieli chose to address the “ugly” parts of the Jewish psyche that anti-Semites characterized as pathological and traditional Jews attributed to a break with tradition. Arieli initially explored Symbolism in his portrayal of the Jewish psyche, but his desire to produce socially engaged art led to his embrace of the melodramatic mode. The melodramatic mode allowed Arieli to go beyond the portrayal of the “ugly” parts of the Jewish psyche and offer his readers a way of overcoming these characteristics to alleviate Jewish suffering and bring meaning to their lives. While the moral ambiguity of modern Jewish existence had led many of his readers to lose their taste for life, Arieli employed the melodramatic mode to articulate a way for his readers to take up moral action and endow their lives with heroic dimensions. By joining other Jews working to recognize the evil within themselves, to combat this evil, and to drive it out, the Modern Jew had the opportunity to avoid the repetition of past failures and to work towards the creation of a more positive Jewish future. Chapter One focuses on “Voice Shards From Across the Valley: Pale Heinrich” and it communicates Arieli's belief that an improvement in the Jewish condition can not occur before Jews embrace efforts at self-exploration. In Chapter Two, “Leor Havenus ” shows how Arieli advances self-exploration as a way of revealing the chaotic intensity of existence. Chapter 3 explores Arieli's turn to melodrama with his composition of the play “Allah Karim!” Chapter 4 treats “Yeshimon” and Arieli's employment of the melodramatic mode for the thickening of its textual fabric. Analysis of “Tzirlin” in Chapter 5 explores how Arieli's embrace of the melodramatic mode led to his development of an Expressionist style.