ABSTRACT

This article offers a discussion of Amos Oz’s early translation and reception history in the American literary scene. The article pays particular attention to Oz’s double capacity as novelist and political commentator, and how it may have contributed to the unique role quickly assigned to him in American public and intellectual discourse. Against the backdrop of the formative social and political context of the 1970s, the article suggests some defining traits of the transformation, and ultimately the reduction, of the Israeli Oz into the American Oz. Oz’s works were largely perceived through an allegorical-political framework or pigeonholed as portrayals of the national psyche, while Oz himself was assigned the role of spokesman for the Israeli Left. Oz was actively involved in shaping his political persona and nonfiction repertoire in English, mainly through his (non-)selection of essays for translation, and his interviews and topical commentary in the American press. These, the article shows, were sometimes moderated for the English-speaking audience, diluting the more forceful political criticism the novelist had presented to his Hebrew readers, and abating the description of aspects of Israeli reality that drew his ire.

摘要

本文讨论了阿莫斯·奥兹 (Amos Oz) 在美国文学界的早期翻译和接受历史。这篇文章特别关注奥兹作为小说家和政治评论员的双重身份，以及它如何有助于迅速分配给他在美国公共和知识话语中的独特角色。在 1970 年代形成的社会和政治背景的背景下，本文提出了以色列奥兹国转变为美国奥兹国并最终减少的一些决定性特征。奥兹的作品在很大程度上是通过寓言政治框架来理解的，或者被归类为民族心理的写照，而奥兹本人则被指定为以色列左翼发言人的角色。奥兹积极参与塑造他的政治人物和英语非小说作品，主要是通过他（非）选择翻译论文，以及他在美国媒体上的采访和专题评论。文章显示，这些有时会为讲英语的观众进行缓和，淡化了小说家向希伯来读者提出的更有力的政治批评，并减少了引起他愤怒的以色列现实方面的描述。