New Novel Critiques Israeli Literary and Academic Circles
Translated & summarized from Israel Hayom by baba
Matan Hermoni's novel "Platiel Z"l" satirizes the Israeli literary and academic elite, portraying them as petty and self-serving. The story follows Professor Eran Vitnberg, who achieves fame by plagiarizing the unfinished manuscript of a deceased writer, Platiel Z.K. The book critiques the pursuit of fame and the blurred lines between inspiration and theft within the intellectual circles. It offers a darkly humorous, cynical perspective on the local literary world.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Matan Hermoni's novel "Platiel Z"l" satirizes Israeli literary and academic circles.
- The protagonist, Professor Eran Vitnberg, achieves fame through plagiarism.
- The novel contrasts the ideal of "Bildung" with the characters' petty and self-serving behavior.
- Themes include literary theft, strained relationships, and the pursuit of fame.
- The book offers a cynical and darkly humorous view of intellectual life.
Matan Hermoni's new novel, "Platiel Z"l," presents a cynical view of the Israeli literary and academic world, contrasting sharply with the 18th-century German concept of "Bildung," which held that engaging with great works of literature could perfect an individual. Instead, Hermoni's characters, who inhabit the space between literature and academia, are depicted as petty, lustful, and generally repulsive individuals preoccupied with real estate, vanity, plagiarism, and infidelity.
The novel centers on Professor Eran Vitnberg, a literature lecturer at Tel Aviv University and an occasional author. Vitnberg has a past that includes a semi-pornographic story collection, a critically panned erotic novel, and a successful work titled "Uriel Acosta." Notably, the plot of "Uriel Acosta" closely mirrors Hermoni's own second novel, "Four Lands," and the protagonist's name, Vitnberg, shares the author's former surname and profession.
The narrative follows Vitnberg's encounter with Platiel Z.K., a failed journalist and writer whom Vitnberg met during reserve duty. Before his death, Platiel entrusts Vitnberg with his unfinished manuscript. Vitnberg, driven by ambition, later transforms this manuscript into the work that brings him literary fame, effectively plagiarizing Platiel's ideas. The novel suggests Vitnberg feels no remorse, with a colleague remarking that plagiarism is a claim of losers and ideas are free.
"Platiel Z"l" explores themes of literary theft versus "influence," strained family relationships, infidelity, and the desperate desire to find enjoyment in life. It also portrays Israeli academics as constantly traveling between the US and Israel, networking, attending conferences, and engaging in flattery and heavy drinking.
While the novel is described as highly readable and amusing, it prompts the question of whether the Hebrew literary scene is merely a collection of small-minded individuals vying for meager fame. Hermoni, himself a respected scholar of Hebrew literature, and his characters, do not directly address this question, seemingly viewing literature primarily as a means to personal gain, such as travel grants, affairs, or favorable press.