Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The first draft (1973) of Bernard Malamud’s Dubin’s Lives (1979) opens with the protagonist, William Dubin, encountering a man by the name of Malamud.1 “They sometimes met on country roads when there were flowers or snow,” the August 1973 draft begins; “Dubin had his circular route” while “Malamud wandered along various roads.” On these “snowy, windswept fields” the two share a joke: “‘Did you hear the one about the two Jewish gentlemen in Central Park?’ Malamud [Dubin] asked. ‘One picked a flower and asked the first other, ‘What’s this?’ The other answered, ‘How should I know, am I a milliner?’” (First Draft of Dubin’s Lives). The opening of this draft closely follows the novel as it was eventually published, albeit with several key differences. The “Malamud” character of the first draft, a writer of fiction, becomes “Greenfield” by the second. While the published novel likewise begins with a joke, Malamud ultimately opted for a different comic standard: “Had [Dubin] heard the one about the rabbi who, when his sexton prayed aloud, ‘Dear God, I am nothing, You are everything,’ remarked, ‘Look who says he’s nothing!’” (Dubin 7). This joke is well-known—a version of it even appears in Leo Rosten’s The Joys of Yiddish (1968) under the entry for “k’nocker” (boastful person) (188-89). While the second joke may be funnier, the first is likely more apposite to the novel, poking fun as it does at the supposed distance that these diaspora Jews have from the natural world. In place of an appreciation of beauty, the two men are only able to draw on the language of commerce—flowers are part of the milliner’s trade and are valued for their ability to adorn hats. In the context of Dubin and Malamud meeting on their country walks in frozen Vermont winters, the joke also wryly highlights the unlikeliness of these “two Jewish gentlemen” living out their lives in this landscape. What has taken them from the city to rural Vermont? What took the two men of the joke across the world to Central Park? How can we account for the unlikeliness of these twentieth-century Jewish lives in general? Jokes were central to Malamud’s fiction—they were more than just adornment, so to speak. Malamud’s biographer, Philip Davis, describes how in the 1930s the aspiring writer funded his university studies at City College partly by working as a waiter in resorts in the Catskills Mountains during university breaks. By “the summer of 1935,” Davis reports, “Malamud was writing and acting in skits and stand-up comedy routines” (44). There are lists of jokes and witticisms in Malamud’s personal archive from after this period, including one that was almost certainly copied from the final pages of Irving Howe and Eliezer Greenberg’s A Treasury of Yiddish Stories (1954): “God loves the poor and helps the rich”; “Sleep faster, we need the pillows”; “a blind horse makes straight for the pit” (Malamud, Undated Typescript). Malamud recalls that he encountered Immanuel Olsvanger’s Röyte Pomerantsen: Jewish Folk Humor Gathered and Edited (1947) around the time that he was invited to “translate a story from the Yiddish” for Howe and Greenberg’s anthology.2 Malamud says that he read in the volume “six marriage anecdotes—two of which were very important” for his story in progress, “The Magic Barrel” (1954) (Talking 80). Archival papers also show that he recommended to his students at Bennington in 1961 that they read Sigmund Freud’s Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905), a work that contains a number of Jewish joke standards (Teaching Material). There are stories of Malamud’s, as Philip Roth writes, “where the joke seemed only an inch away from the art, where the charm of the art was how it humorously hovered at the edge of the joke” (122-23). What does this hovering, as Roth puts it, allow Malamud’s fiction to achieve? I explore how Malamud’s engagement with Jewish dialect materials is central to his circumspect, wry, and often deforming literary explorations of the very topic that is most associated with his work—Jewish American identity—and related issues such as self-understanding and belief. This might appear to be an unusual proposition, as Malamud draws on Jewish jokes to deflect emerging narratives about Jewishness. Yet I suggest that his use of these materials is distinctive and inventive, as he engages in a kind of aesthetic play with jokes—joking with them, in a sense, elaborating their thinking—and in the process deepening their seriousness. There is a significant distance from Malamud’s stories to the jokes he found in the likes of Röyte Pomerantsen or wrote in the Catskills, of course, but I show how Malamud fictionalizes Jewish joke traditions in that and their I on two stories from the and how Jewish jokes their and “The of the follows a on his to in as he the name and to out a of By the he is after his of the he has to In Malamud a world the of the lives of and one in which the might at a a from who has in his of “The of the that he was the of a this a Jewish he asked This I am The story with to have after and the stories were in a in which Malamud was for to his fiction, away from he as the I had writing for a was in this that he in his in to the for more than the story (Talking to Malamud’s of jokes in these stories is an to how their can be of I am that jokes the in that Malamud in the of traditions the to explore of that might be that the of comedy is to distance comedy as as Jokes Malamud of across the of and is when Malamud’s are at their most that they are at their most and jokes in his fiction is a of during the comic and comedy to that we as of comedy The is a kind of of which can only be to the fiction In the that jokes Malamud to the and of his writing of Jewish American have to use traditions to the and of Jews in the we this of even to the in which Malamud was I in the of in American Jewish studies that about how the literary I explore to describes it, the to of the of Jewish American on the when there was an of Jewish American Bernard Philip and the of the American This has in to the just as Jewish American in American literary Jews from the to the of American In there is a to and Jewish American as a has taken to the of Jews in the that ultimately literary I the to by Jews in as of Jewish American and I show how Bernard Malamud draws on traditions to that often narratives of Jewish American and the I am a it is ultimately the on the one jokes as of and on the other, jokes as materials when to Malamud’s allow to and deforming writing draws on Jewish American materials from the period, but to a or jokes for Malamud the to explore that just as How might American he be to What Jewish with there to how might Jewish with in the Malamud’s comic his often to these as he stories that to to of the most issues of his and “The of the the only story in The Magic the of and as In Malamud’s of the in an entry in his he there be a or who a who is In this “the makes them and they There are of the from this or in that he only to it more than in when he the story as and in The is but the that is a does that he is he to that he is which he as a in to eventually the about but this is In this of the the is for the he as a as the time in to and has a to be as a The story as it was eventually published follows the entry in a number of key even is The story on a man who does that he is Jewish to a Malamud eventually to a or but man the in has a his and to While in he his name to a that is he was that he was of the of the it had The that Malamud as a eventually an in is on this that the with he his of and The story on a of and the of which that he is of these can be as a almost as for a joke, which in the of the The first in their on the you an with an The for a and This protagonist, as he from his and than he to a by the it was in a Yet he as an he he a he had living his the of on as he with the of a and American in that he has these The meeting is as is by the and to the his for a second time as the a to This is more but it their to to but was from to the in a a a had a of as he out of the and to that was in but he may have a in the asked. you the with the he how you at In Malamud’s of as an American he that be of the of Jewish even as he is to the that might the to his is only does he but his how you at more than a The story with that he he does might be in the of his he several pages I was says to in the where they first have to at with the you a should I he for the he with the of at the so answered, his you with such is for Malamud had that might to to in out to be more to of this This the an I you he was as to have at their a to at them, but he had on the his he on the and a of I was a The The at the by the are is to I I to his away one to the of the and “The of the draws on the of Jewish that and as an from this A was on a had had his and his on the a in the The and took a The the pages of a for a and asked the when is the and his on the that this joke on the of of which and but and it is significant that the joke on the the and the in the of the makes the joke are This of joke was Jewish in the in which Malamud was In Bernard and published and Jewish in the This makes a to comic Jewish they out of the of in American to of very issues they “The am and am are almost for the American and them in his they an account of different of Jews in on how jokes to the of and to that the joke ultimately American Jews Jewish joke as a American Jews of The and the the that are so from other, the and the are able to across the that them as as a Jewish joke is on “The of the it that Malamud was is the of from The first joke and comedy with a it is this kind of joke that is at the of “The of the Freud’s joke about the this place in the context of A a very man on the and for but are you in a and you he is a final you The man and it, I am which makes the You The of this joke in the has that the man is of how he does This is in with Freud’s in the man on the in this does of his it is for Jews to albeit in a Jewish a joke of this the materials and for fiction that but does The of and a of Jewish and a about as “The of the in key of this of of and man on the while the of the story a of the of to The in the issues of that the am and am as to be with the that makes he “the it had The key from Malamud’s for the story is in is their and the of the story on the at play in such In this sense, it is that the story does to with an of as just a Malamud of the as his by encountering as he in the of his of a Jewish of the the story a around that from it is that the story out of and a with be and that is the of the Jewish in as there is an from “the to the to the is the of that and it is in this that the of the story ultimately is on while is as he “the in the of a he has to is in (Malamud, The of the the story in about the and of how his with has his of as a he as a This process of his as his a kind of that a with on Jewishness. This is the of of his In other it is of his and that he is to in the that have as a in is to a with This is an that on it may just as becomes he the of in In this sense, the name is in one of Malamud’s to his as a a name to American of and these had to of as a that to to and at There is an of and how the of be Jewish so as is in the he may that and a out of and the it on but it does does it the to be who he be in we may living with from such as it is for on the of and with in this the and of the Central to of these and to the is Malamud’s of a kind of that is to Malamud’s first in and his draft in the story more and more from with how a to an in how a man and of this is by the that Malamud as he wryly the that and are in the of Jewish as a and A kind of is ultimately the for how when out of the we are and out of the of had to also a the of had that of which the of the of a and The under straight were with were as from was the one of that the and (Malamud, The first of this is by a which the more language of appreciation of This of the at the of the to in the which the of the of a and While the account of has to be as he to to the version of he has to as a to of the there are that the of this City from are likely to be be read as more in while the of is The with and such that his and central to how we and is the at the that that about his has to an to is in the as he a dialect joke literary fiction, such that the story can in key of Jewish American While have the of the for Jewish American self-understanding in the Malamud the in as for a of the has the in the for a Jewish as it ultimately than The joke is for the in his of becomes more with a American a and Jewish than with In this the Jewish on which Malamud draws helps to and Jewish while to Jewish American on a In other Malamud’s of the joke a about such as to their and to the in What we is a kind of Jewish Jewish or Jewish but of and man who is even to are in the when as they are with of the he his to or the from to more as he for the of the There is a kind of comic in this even it is to who is the of the the he for the story in The Magic out of traditions to of for Jews in the This Malamud also of and of that his describes as While there are in Malamud’s to there are for stories that In a in an which in a he a were and who was on a by The has to the and to the of the and the of out to be central to which Malamud in This story but his on the of Jewish and in the explore these in and The on a in his who has and an he has to it in the has he is his in the and his after an The has a and has to work even as a for more than an or two his to is and has taken to the of with which this story is in the that had God, I that this should to does have the ability to his and their the of his the and prayed for an American a at the in the this the name of begins to that a man be to this The two at in that is as American in the of and in the of he The is the are I The had heard of Jews but had met an unusual in about the of he Jewish at this his a very part in his but have an I you to is and but it it was The of was that was an a who had from in the with the of There are two of in the The first is as he to is a to an a a that there are so of In this and follows to he in a at a While this is for in this even more that a world of is becomes more he from a about a and there to God, but had The his and found he his he he Yet it was to you you a a an his he the for The story around to in a he the of his is only on his to that opens to the of a that the has “a in a are and is at this has to where the has this he the is and is in these that is to he in a his was but the of with The are This I am the man so he he a was an In this is by but by is an where of a “a in his The to to and to it was on and to the as a he “a on a of The story with out of the are Jews The second of in the story is as is in a of it is ultimately who from his is first in the story in a that he is after the has his Jewish out of his to a he had to one there is a that has out of with at with his by he does have and to likewise his The in the story are from other in their of his and is to to The two are in the that from as he as it by the part in the story on the unlikeliness of an American unlikeliness that is for the by to it the of a we are to is it the of a In one the to which is by is to the of this The that he had of Jews but met and that this an is in with this is an a a that there are so of In it is Malamud who on a in which the of a is an and the story from this This is by his at in the this the of American as the in a who with The that a in which we might to the of Jewish to are does the On the one it and about On the other a of suggest that Malamud have a of Jewish one use a to to of the when Malamud is at to that they are it their the are the as part of their it only be for at is how to the by the of the that for and Malamud the that and are one is this as that “a more than a with the of The novel that I suggest that to a of as a to the comic to the at the which Malamud from a of Jewish jokes and about in to to this when he the of a that in for there is an on an that is around and of of various wry, and the While there is that Malamud read these as he was writing the stories in The Magic there are of such are in the pages that the Yiddish that Malamud copied from A Treasury of Yiddish Howe and were in their to the of these of their their they in their the of Yiddish to a of and literary likewise suggest in an that the of of to of with Yiddish in the and the of an language of to a kind of are associated with the of including of the The (1947) and of the The from the first volume were published in in and of work took place in the Malamud was including in in which he that has to or even to the the of of a number of was in the of which is by of The Magic that Malamud’s stories are of the most and there is one that is also there is an of the on says how is a of and as Malamud’s writing draws from traditions that were in the period, his with more it may have also to have his of the story In Malamud likely from these the that may joke with and that we may in for the of of of the I that I have and for after you in the you are of in the that I along with I of you to the out of so you can it is the to of that the at his he as this of an for the to be with God, he in an account of describes as a of and and and The of the is ultimately in of and the with the he the for which he or at the stories in the Treasury are several from the who of a more but often it is that you in to the and In a that is to draw from the of to on of of his who are they the of the What follows is a from the of the first is that one two at The second is that one may only and the is that when one has the one may to where he of to his the need for by on the a has while his The man had that the two that were “the or are often an for you two Jews by and on a there is the name of the it to you as one were the other, they are Jews and it is the name of these in of as the the materials for and in the and of and that are Jews is in the of the and and this the world by in the of the that Malamud’s stories on one or two which is certainly of this can be as a in that place at in this Malamud for these in his Howe by so from one of to that the of which the final also of such as a of as they from the world to the in this to a of central are out of the of and to a of as I while the of may be it is the at the of the of the Howe and in their of one of of the of to a in the of literary I to on that is to for the time of there were jokes in the that on the and and this the they to jokes about as this kind of to the of the the is On the first of the to after and are you I a “The they in he can be found out only one the This to the of Malamud’s in which he has to that are Jews a has his as he this is as Malamud has from the joke it might be to be with the of this the world of the and that of the in who jokes about the Malamud this an a such as were to be at his a What his of that and how he in “The of the we to with the that one to for the of his this a Jewish he asked I am (Malamud, By the of in these Malamud when it is an of but a taken by a man such as and in the and Malamud draws on traditions of and jokes that draw on an the of belief. engagement with these traditions his fiction, it to issues of in the of the and the joke, Malamud in the of a such as a man to of has his one might his most he is most when he he he he on the or even The of the in and at the of the but he that had to a The of for this is with a that the There is a as and are in the of the the as is out of the in the we might the that Malamud only “two it is that Malamud they Malamud recalls often a joke about a man who to to the and the I and at you prayed to you that I might the but he the and a out of the says to the you a a Malamud the joke was a of on is the we in Malamud’s to be more and to work for he wrote in August work I in Davis The joke about the was also a for about who and found in writing a for says “the from the comic that more Malamud is one of the of the Jewish American who American literary fiction after There has a to to the and that he wrote to a version of he on his Jewish in his in his Jewishness. is in of the only in in The and the of to his work has with that of Philip Roth and of in this has to a language for to show how the joke helps to of the unusual of his writing and In I have how he the joke literary fiction, and the of literary by explorations of that to be in American In a with Malamud on to his he to than but I it in the of is this comic by his his work The is I of when the in of a sometimes I need I can and I the of is makes aesthetic than it is This might be the of we Jewish comedy in fiction to but it is these jokes on which Malamud to his work and by his literary are a of the he have it, you just have to a to the Bernard Malamud for to from materials in this
Author: Andrew Dean
Institution: University College London
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,328
OpenAlex ID: W4411717322