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KOHN/JKWISH PUBI.ISHIN(; IN FRANCK
43
Arnold Mandel. Flammarion has published several volumes by
the Israel-based French poet, Claude Vigee; translations o f Saul
Bellow’s novels
(The Dean's December,
1982) and essays
(To
erusalem and Back,
1979); and such controversial tracts as Roger
Peyrefite’s
Lesjuifs
(The Jews), 1965, and Ruth
Bldu's Les Gardiens
de la Cite
(The City Guards), 1978. Flammarion’s publication o f
Abram L. Sachar’s
History of theJews
(1974) was its only offering in
the field o f history. T he book received mixed reviews.
A lthough Seuil has published most o f the novels o f Elie Wiesel
and Andre Schwartzbart, and has translated Bernard Malamud’s
The Fixer
and
The Tenants,
the bulk o f its publishing on Jewish
matters centers on Israel, the Holocaust, ethics and sociology.
Israel, a controversial topic, is presented in books that o ffer the
contrasting views o f Maxime Rodinson
(Israel ou le refus arabe
[Israel o r the Arab Denial], 1969;
Marxisme et monde musulman
[Marxism and the Moslem World], 1974), and Uri Avnery
(Israel
sans Sionisme
[Israel without Zionism], 1970). Saul F ried lander’s
Pie XII etle 3 Reich
(Pius XII and the Th ird Reich, 1979) was pub
lished here, as was his
Reflets du Nazisme
(Reflections on Nazism,
1982). Andre Neher, one o f the leading thinkers o f the Jewish
community, published several books th rough Seuil, among them
his Exilet la parole
(Exile and the Word, 1971). The respected his
torian and sociologist Annie Kriegel
(Les Juifs et le monde moderne
[Jews and the Modern World], 1979), and the polemicist Alain
Finkelkraut
(Le Ju if imaginaire
[The Imaginary Jew], 1980;
L’Avenir d’une negation
[The Future o f a Refutation], 1982) also
had the ir works published by Seuil.
I f a major publishing house does not have a Jewish series, it is
generally an indication o f its lack o f interest in Judaica.
Exceptions, however, are made if the books o f Jewish interest can
be incorporated into o the r areas o f a publishing house’s speciali
zation. Unable to risk the ir investment on a limited market, most
o f the smaller companies without a Jewish series, publish works
only on Israel o r on Holocaust related topics. O f the smaller
companies, only Seuil tries to offer a broad selection although it
does not sponsor a Juda ica series.
PECIAL SERIES
Maintaining a Jewish series increases the selling potential o f a
ublisher. In terested individuals and specialists tu rn first to