2: Text excerpt, “Introspectivism” ("In zikh") manifesto, 1921.

2: Text excerpt, “Introspectivism” ("In zikh") manifesto, 1921.

Margolin was part of a cohort of Yiddish poets who adopted the term “introspectivism” to explain their poetic process. Literary manifestos such as this were common in the early twentieth century, and were often polemical in tone—an idealistic statement of principles regarding how poetry should be written and read. This document, written by Jewish immigrants in New York City, positions Yiddish as a modern language capable of registering and recording the uniquely frenetic pace of urban life.
 
Suggested Activity:  Read this manifesto excerpt and consider its insistence on a particular relationship between poetry and the world. Ask students to state, in their own words, what that relationship is. Then ask them if and how this manifesto helps them understand Margolin’s use of “kaleidoscopic” cultural references. Note the use of the words “panorama” and “labyrinth” to describe the “human psyche.” What does it mean to use terms suggesting vast or complex spaces to describe one’s interior self? How is the self simultaneously both small (interior) and large (the world)? What are some examples of an “inherited self” evident in Margolin’s poem? Consider the genre of the manifesto, which in the early twentieth century was often associated with various political viewpoints or social agendas. Have students work in pairs to create manifestos that reflect some aspect of their shared experience as young people in the present day.

Sources: M. Ofranel et al., In zikh: a zamlung introspektive lider [In zikh: a collection of introspectivist poems] (New York: M. N. Mayzel, 1920), 5–8.

Jacob Glatshteyn, A. Leyeles, and N. Minkov, “Introspectivism,” trans. Anita Norich, appendix to American Yiddish Poetry, eds. Benjamin Harshav and Barbara Harshav, (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2007), 774–775.