T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

As faith in Judaism weakened and scepticism increased,the ~0ntraSt between the hope and the reality became more andmore ironic. The unwanted nexus between circumstance and beliefqave birth to the folk figure of the schlemiel, the goodhearted but ineffectual, comic, bumbler who habitually stumblesinto misfortune. As an ironic technique, Jewish humour provideda sort of double-vision, capable of sustaining hope whilerecognising despair. As an artistlc brush stroke, it provides aconsistency of tcne and mood that Incorporates both the tragicand the comic. As a moral perspective, Jewish humour combinesthe values of humanism with the grltty reality of an everydaylife that seems existentially absurd. Malamud's use of Jewishhumour PIovlde:; thti* key to understanding hot11 his attitudetoward tiunian existence and hls technique as a writer.The most important of the Jewish writers Malamud is parexcellence the explorer of marqinallty. As one of the bestJewish-American wrlters, Malamud did his best to change 'madcrusaders1 hop~ng for a transcendent ideal-art and potency-torepiace the tarnished ones they embraced in their youth. Thereis surczly somethlnq what Mvlamud cal:Ls his "moral esthetic"that is typically Jcwlsh and worlcs agalnst. allenation and themod~rn~st negatlve apocalypse. The "n~oral-esthetic" of thepostmodern J ~ writer ~ 1s ~ the s intelligence, ~concreteness, androugtl texture of tlieir vxit.inq. As a rule, their tales are