Lithuanian Haskalah literature, the seed of Zionism

Abstract

In this article, a series of texts from Judeo-Lithuanian Haskalah literature, through which the evolution of the national ideas underlying this literary movement can be traced, are presented in Catalan for the first time. Drawing primarily on Bartal (2005), Stern (2018) and Lempertienė (2020), and adopting a Catalan-centric perspective, the aim is to show that the ideas in question laid the groundwork for Zionist ideology. The article is intended to be the first step in a study of the points of convergence between Zionism and Catalan nationalism. The translated texts include passages from the prologues to Mikhal’s translation of the Iliupersis and to Schulman’s translation of The Mysteries of Paris by Eugène Sue (Mistere Pariz, the first Hebrew translation of a modern novel), which are essential to understanding Maskilim ideas about language and literature. There are also translations of excerpts from Mapu’s Ahavat Ṣiyyon and of three poems by Yalag (Haqiṣa ‘ammi, Lĕmi ’ani ‘amel, and the three first stanzas of Aḥoti Ruḥama).