The translingual imagination in Polish-Jewish literature

Literary translingualism is defined as "the phenomenon of authors who write in more than one language or at least in a language other than their primary one" (Steven G. Kellman). The phenomenon is considered to be one of the characteristic features of modern literature that is deeply marked by the experience of exile and dislocation. The translingualism of Polish-Jewish literature is also related to another context, mostly to the diasporic character of Jewish writings in Europe and the forms of Jewish multilingualism (Benjamin Harshav). Among the Polish-Jewish authors there were bi-lingual writers who wrote in Yiddish and Polish. Another group was formed by those who adopted Hebraism and proclaimed Hebrew the only language of Jewish literature in the future. Many of them discussed their personal linguistic affinity, attitude towards Jewish multilingualism, individual linguistic biography and position vis a vis Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish in their writings. The article presents artistic strategies of translingualism in the Polish-Jewish literature focusing on the general comments on Jewish multilingualism and the descriptions of translingual personal experience. The goal of this research is surveying of the various dimensions of translingual experience and imagination revealed by literature. The analysis encompasses the Polish-Jewish prose and poetry published between 1861 and 1939. This historical perspective allows to explore the changing forms of cultural and linguistic rootedness of the authors, their attitudes towards their first and their adopted language as well as the variety of textual representations of translingualism.