The Epistolary Story in Haskalah Literature: Isaac Euchel's "Igrot Meshulam"

Abstract

This study of the epistolary genre in Hebrew Haskalah literature examines several epistolary pieces published in Hameʾasef , the journal of German Haskalah. In particular, it looks at Isaac Euchel's "Igrot Meshulam ben Uriyah Haʾeshtemoi," considered the first epistolary writing in modern Hebrew belle lettres . Past literary criticism attributed Euchel's piece to the influence of Montesquieu's Lettres Persanes . I argue that many of the arguments for such an influence are based on a superficial resemblance of the two works, and I suggest that such similarities exist in other literary works belonging to the genre of epistolary writing and to Enlightenment literature in general, which are in effect literary conventions of the genre. A number of representative works in the epistolary, psuedo-oriental genre published prior to 1721—the publication date of Lettres Persanes —as well as works published subsequently, such as The Jewish Spy, Turkish Spy , and Chinese Spy , were studied to see whether the alleged similarities could be found in these works as well. The result undermines the theory of an exclusive dependence of "Igrot Meshulam " on Montesquieu and shows its possible affinity to other epistolary writings. More importantly, the writer argues that Euchel's non-fictional epistolary work, "Igrot Yitsḥaq Eichel Letalmido Michal Friedländer," which was also published in Hameʾasef , sheds more light on the fictional work.