Robert Alter

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Robert Uri Alter , also Robert Bernard Alter (born April 2, 1935 in New York City ), is an American Hebraist and literary scholar .

Life

Alter grew up in a conservative Jewish community in Albany, New York . “I had a typical American bar mitzvah preparation, that is, when I was 13 I knew next to nothing. I knew the Hebrew alphabet , had learned a few vocabulary and could sing my Haftara , that was it. ”It was only a study group of bar mitzvah graduates he attended that aroused his interest in Hebrew. While he was studying English at Columbia University , he also took courses at the Jewish Theological Seminary , some of which were held in Hebrew. After he had completed a bachelor's degree in English literature at Columbia University in 1957, Robert Alter continued his studies in comparative literature at Harvard University , which he completed with his doctorate in 1962. According to his own assessment, he mainly acquired his knowledge of Hebrew literature as an autodidact, because there was no corresponding offer at Harvard. In 1969 he became Professor of Hebrew Literature and Comparative Literature at the University of California , Berkeley, a chair he has held since then.

Teaching

The earliest publications of age were in modern Hebrew literature ( Samuel Agnon , Yizhar Smilansky ). Later he turned to the entire spectrum of Hebrew literature, from the Tanach to Chaim Nachman Bialik , Shaul Tchernikovsky to Yehuda Amichai . The translation of the Tanach into English, on which he worked together with a commentary for around 20 years and which was completed in 2018, can be considered an old life's work. Alter received the National Jewish Book Award for his work The Art of Biblical Narrative (1981).

Memberships

Honors

  • National Jewish Book Award for Jewish Thought (1982)
  • Robert Kirsch Award ( Los Angeles Times ) for Lifetime Contribution to American Letters (2009)
  • University of Haifa: Doctor of Philosophy, Honoris Causa (2015)

Publications (selection)

  • The Art of Biblical Narrative (1981)
  • Necessary Angels: Tradition and Modernity in Kafka, Benjamin, and Scholem (1991)
  • The World of Biblical Literature (1992)
  • Hebrew and Modernity (1994)
  • Psalms: A Translation with Commentary (2007)
  • The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary (3 volumes, 2018)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ encyclopedia.com: Alter, Robert B.
  2. ↑ a b c Simon Rocker: Can you rewrite the Bible? This man has made it his mission. We look at a new, literary translation of the Bible . In: The Jewish Chronicle, December 6, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Dude, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alter, Robert Uri (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Hebraist and literary scholar
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City