The Criticism of Haskalah Rhetoric as the Criticism of Society and Culture / תרבות הביקורת וביקורת התרבות עיונים בספרו של א"י פפירנא 'קנקן חדש מלא ישן'

This article deals with a socio-literary analysis of the criticism leveled by critic and poet A.B. Paperna (1840-1919) against the highly euphemistic language (melitzah) characteristic to the writing of the Haskalah. In Paperna's opinion, the circles of Maskilim claiming to have pitched battle against the rabbinic establishment had failed in their struggle. As evidence of this failure, Paperna cites their use of euphemistic Hebrew melitzah. The dense and highly rhetorical melitzah of the Maskilim implied a dependence on the sources of traditional authority, those same sources on which the Orthodox establishment relied. It reflects, moreover, the socio-ideological conformism expressed, for example, in the discrimination against women and the rank and file of less learned Jews. Assuming that the social changes are intertwined with literary and linguistic changes, Paperna urges the Maskil circles to struggle against the rabbinic establishment for control of the language and, through its means, the consciousness of the reading public and its very composition. Challenging the authority of the rabbinic establishment had to be accomplished, in his opinion, by the democratization of the language and the strongholds of knowledge. By using parody, Paperna seeks to undermine the traditional manner of using the Hebrew language, and to expose the Hebrew language and literature to the pressures of the Yiddish-reading world. Paperna's views concerning the deployment of language as an instrument for changing the face of literature, culture and society reveal his contradiction-ridden attitude towards Hebrew, Yiddish, and the European languages of la'az.