From Scott to rispart, from Ivanhoe to the york massacre of the jews rewriting and translating historical "fact" into fiction in the historical novel

Translations/adaptations/appropriations of historical and pseudo-historical texts were a common tool, in the 19th century, for enhancing new national images. In the era that saw the birth of modern historiography, modern nationalism as well as that of the modern novel, politicians, community leaders, culture shapers, writers, all became aware of the potential of the historical novel for introducing new and often subversive images in the backdoor, so to speak. This essay will provide an example of the intricate ways in which such procedures were undertaken, focusing on the following aspects: (1) how narrating / rewriting / updating historical data works, in other words how historical "facts" are translated into fiction, (2) how this process can serve various ideological purposes, be it hidden agendas or quite open political/cultural goals, and (3) how translations of these historical renditions, both "scientific" and belletristic, work for a different public, at a different time and place, for different ideological purposes. The test case will illustrate how a German-Jewish writer of the Reform camp in early 19th century Germany selected a very controversial episode in Jewish history (the 1190 mass-suicide of the entire Jewish population of York), and, following the model of Scott's Ivanhoe, used it as a tool for introducing new Reform ideas to his Jewish readership. It will follow the translations of this novel into Hebrew, both in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and in Israel in the middle of the 20th century, to show how the same historical data was used for enhancing national feelings and a sense of national identity.