A SURREALIST READING: FORMLESSNESS AND NONDIFFERENTIATION IN YITZHAK ORPAZ’S THE HUNTING OF THE GAZELLE (TSEYD HA-TSVIYAH, 1966) A CYCLE OF THREE STORIES

The research for this paper was initiated by the following question: Why is it that avant-gardes literary trends such as Futurism and Expressionism have been evidently incorporated into Modern Hebrew poetry and prose – alongside detailed and comprehensive critical discourse regarding this incorporation – whereas the same cannot be said of Surrealism? There is no official Hebrew or Israeli Surrealist movement or extensive critical study of Hebrew Surrealism either in literature or in the visual arts and – as I shall demonstrate – this particular absence is true in only a few other countries and consequently Israel stands out in being one of these countries.1 The question thus raised two concerns: the first, which cannot be denied, is the complete absence of a collective, national Israeli affiliation with Surrealism and the second, which is more problematic, is the seeming lack of a Surrealist influence upon Modern Hebrew literature.2 The latter concern is not as relevant to other national literatures simply because so many countries have or have had nationally affiliated Surrealist movements, which in turn suggests an impact. The fact that there has never been a Hebrew or Israeli equivalent renders the concern more pertinent. My question then developed into something of a more historicist nature: is it possible that there are instances of Hebrew Surrealism within literature that are the result of an inner poetic need rather than any conscious affiliation with the movement? If so, how would we define this particular Surrealism and what would it signify?