Abstrakt
Leonard Cohen is mostly known as a singer-songwriter. Although his poems and novels are not as widely recognized as his music, it has been frequently argued that The Favourite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966) can be viewed as the most innovative and experimental novels to be published in Canada. They are also among the first representatives of Canadian postmodernism in literature. The main purpose of this article was to explore echoes of the Holocaust in Cohen’s novels, as well as in his book of poetry Flowers for Hitler (1964). Despite the fact that the links and allusions to Judaism made by him have been often stressed by the critics, what is demonstrated here is the fact that for Cohen, his Jewish heritage was not only a source of inspiration but also doubt and anger. This paper, apart from presenting the artist’s cultural and spiritual background, aims at demonstrating ethical ambivalences in Leonard Cohen’s art and examining the reasons behind the ambivalence, as well as discussing his works in the context of postmodern ethical theory.Bibliografia
Arendt, H. 1964. Eichmann in Jerusalem. New York: The Viking Press.
Bauman, Z. 1989. Modernity and the Holocaust. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
Cohen, L. 1993. Beautiful losers. New York: Vintage Books.
Cohen, L. 1976. Flowers for Hitler. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd.
Cohen, L. 2000. The favourite game. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Djwa, S. 1967. “Leonard Cohen. Black romantic”. Canadian Literature 34. 32–42.
Gillman, N. 2004. “Contemporary Jewish theology”. W zbiorze: Neusner, J. and Avery-Peck A. J. (red.). The Blackwell companion to Judaism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 441–460.
Gunkel, H. 1903. “Psalm 137: an interpretation”. The Biblical World 22 (4). 290–293.
Hutcheon, L. 1974. “Beautiful losers: all the polarities”. Canadian Literature 59. 42–56.
Hutcheon, L. 2001. The politics of postmodernism. New York: Routledge.
Lang, B. 2007. “Evil, suffering, and the Holocaust”. W zbiorze: Morgan M. and Gordon P. E. (red.). The Cambridge companion to modern Jewish philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 277–299.
Morgan, M., Gordon P. E. (red.). 2007. The Cambridge companion to modern Jewish philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Neusner, J. 2006. Judaism. The basics. New York: Routledge.
Neusner, J. and Avery-Peck A. J. 2004. The Routledge dictionary of Judaism. New York: Routledge.
Neusner, J. and Avery-Peck A. J. 2004. The Blackwell companion to Judaism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Pezzarello, Ch. J. 1997. “You have sweetened your word”: sincerity and prayer in Leonard Cohen’s book of mercy. Montreal: McGill University.
Ravvin, N. 1993. “Writing around the Holocaust: uncovering the ethical centre of “Beautiful losers”. Canadian Poetry 33 (http://canadianpoetry.org/volumes/vol33/ravvin.html).
Salkin, J. K. 2004. “New Age Judaism”. W zbiorze: Neusner, J. and Avery-Peck A. J. 2004. The Blackwell companion to Judaism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 352–370.
Scobie, S. (red.). 2000. Intricate preparations: writing Leonard Cohen. Toronto: ECW Press.
Wayman, T. 1974. “Cohen`s women”. Canadian Literature 60. 89–93.
Wynands, S. 2000. “The Representation of the Holocaust in Flowers for Hitler”. W zbiorze: Scobie S. (red.). Intricate preparations: writing Leonard Cohen. Toronto: ECW Press. 198–209.