Jacob Isaac Segal: A Montreal Yiddish Poet and His Milieu(Canadian Studies)

Born in the Ukraine in 1896, and settling in Montreal in 1910, Segal became one of the first Yiddish writers in Canada. His poetry, infused with lyricism and mysticism, along with the numerous essays and articles he penned, embodied both a rich literary tradition and the modernism of his day. Pierre Anctil has written so much more than a biography. For the first time, Segal's poetic production is referenced, translated and rigorously analyzed, and includes over 100 pages of appendices, shedding light on the artistic, spiritual, cultural and historical importance of his oeuvre. By introducing the reader to the poet's work through previously unpublished translations, Anctil demonstrates that in many respects it reflects the history of the Jewish immigrants who arrived in North America from Russia, the Ukraine and Poland at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the tragic experiences of Jewish intellectual refugees of the interwar period. This admirably written, sweeping yet subtle, work will appeal both to scholars and to a broader audience. The original French version was awarded the prestigious 2014 Canada Prize in the Humanities by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Table of Contents:
Translator’s Note Preface: A Quebec Lyric Poet Introduction  CHAPTER 1 Arrival in Montreal Factory Work First Attempts at Writing In the Pages of Jewish Daily Eagle The Revelation of 1917 The Emergence of Yiddish Literature in Montreal Caiserman in Montreal The Poale Zion and the Founding of the Canadian Jewish Congress The Urgent Call of Zionism The Failed Russian Revolution of 1905 The Beginnings of a Jewish Proletariat in Montreal CHAPTER 2 Leaving Korets The Dawn of 1918 Intimist Writing The Urban Aesthetic The Canadian Winter An Exemplary Influence  The Genesis of a Yiddish Poet The Korets Talmud Torah and Its Nigun First Literary Influences Segal’s Maternal Grandfather The Great Crossing CHAPTER 3 First Literary Success Bazunder lider (1921) The New York Modernist Movement The Journal Nyuansn Under the Wing of Mani Leib Fun mayn shtub un mayn velt (1923)  Lider (1926) Caiserman, the First Yiddish Literary Critic The Canadian Landscape Following the Lead of the French-Canadian Poets An Emerging Literature CHAPTER 4 Toward a Golden Age New Waves of Immigration The Crash of 1929 Literary Salons and Book Committees The Sinister Echoes of Nazism Idishe dikhter in kanade (1934) Caiserman as Literary Historian The Poet at His Peak The Great Mystical Watershed The Agnostic Poet Before God CHAPTER 5 The “Years of Lead”: The Holocaust and Its Aftermath First Indications of Genocide The End of a World New Sources of Inspiration Looking Toward Montreal A Mystical Leap A Chorus of Praise The Contribution of the Holocaust Survivors The Ravitch Galaxy The Yiddish Writers Association Twilight Reflections The Final Exile Conclusion

About the Author :
Pierre Anctil is an award-winning author, a member of the Royal Society of Canada since 2012 and a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa, where he taught contemporary Canadian history and Canadian Jewish history. He has written at length on the history of Montreal's Jewish community and on the current debates on cultural pluralism in Canada. His most recent English-language titles are History of the Jews in Quebec (2021), Jacob Isaac Segal: A Montreal Yiddish Poet and His Milieu (2017) and A Reluctant Welcome for Jewish People: Voices in Le Devoir's Editorials, 19101947 (2019), all at the University of Ottawa Press.

Review :
A beautifully written and researched book abounding in grace, nuance and depth. volume 20 As Canada's most renownedYiddish poet and a celebratedfigure in Jewish letters, a full-length study of J.I. Segal is long overdue... This is the first monograph to appear that focuses specifically on Segal. ... A significantcontribution to our knowledge of Segal's life and writing... the extensive primarysource material offered by this encyclopedic work will be of greatvalue to those who seek to undertake a scholarly analysis that situates Segal within the wider context of Yiddish letters in Canada as well as internationally. -- Rebecca Margolis "Uncovering a Poet," Canadian Literature, Winter 2013, p. 131-132 "premiere etude systematique de ce poete celebre partout dans le monde yiddish au cours des annees 1930 (Vienne, Varsovie, New York, Buenos Aires), mais qui est demeure peu connu au Canada francais (et anglais). (...) le livre d'Anctil represente beaucoup plus qu'un ouvrage sur Segal puisque les lecteurs y puisent de l'information sur l'histoire et le milieu de provenance des Juifs, y compris la situation sociopolitique en Russie et dans les pays avoisinants. ... quelque cent pages d'annexes viennent completer l'imposant ouvrage, accompagne d'une bibliographie contenant, entre autres, les poemes de Segalcites dans les chapitres, des articles par et sur l'auteur ainsi que quelques correspondances." -- Yvonne Volki " Etudes critiques / Review Essays ", Histoire sociale / Social History, p. 557 "a beautifully written and researched book abounding in grace, nuance and depth" Canadian Jewish Studies, Volume 20, 2012 "According to Anctil Segal was the first poet in Quebec to embracemodern urbanity in his work. Consequently, he choses to focus on Segal's Montrealite, both the lens through which the poet's modernity is reflected and the repository of longing for the idealizedinnocence of the shietl. However, Segal also 'appropriates' Montreal by Yiddishizing it...This book is sure to resonate deeply with readers partly because the fragile memory of Segal, the reverred forgotten poet, is reminiscent of the fate of Yiddish culture itself...This intimate, compelling and scholarly collective portrait isessential for anyone interested in the inner life of the Jewish community, and in the immigrant experience in Montreal." -- Eve Lerner "Book Review | Compte rendu", CIS|EJC