IN-ZIKH

IN-ZIKH , the Introspectivist movement in American Yiddish poetry, arose in 1919 and centered on the literary organ In Zikh ("In the Self," 1920–40). The founders of the movement included A. *Glanz-Leyeles, Jacob *Glatstein, and N.B. *Minkoff, who in their first volume declared: "The world exists and we are part of it. But for us, the world exists only as it is mirrored in us, as it touches us. The world is a nonexistent category, a lie, if it is not related to us. It becomes an actuality only in and through us." In contrast to *Di Yunge, the Inzikhists espoused all themes, rhythms, and vocabulary, so long as the poetry reflected the poet's individuality. They declared that free verse and social realities must be combined, that poetry required the poet to look into the self (in zikh) and thus present a truer image of the psyche and the world. Urbane modernists, the Inzikhists considered associations and allusions as the two most important elements of poetic expression. Dedicating themselves to the Yiddish language and poetry, they published some of the most important poets and prose writers of the 20^th century.

bibliography:

B. Rivkin, Grunt-Tendentsn fun der Yidisher Literatur in Amerike (1948); N.B. Minkoff, Literarishe Vegn (1955); A. Glanz-Leyeles, Velt un Vort (1958); N.B. Minkof-Bukh (1959); C. Madison, Yiddish Literature (1968), 306–11; S. Liptzin, Maturing of Yiddish Literature (1970), 40–65. add. bibliography: B. Harshav, American-Yiddish Poetry (1986).

[Sol Liptzin /

Anita Norich (2^nd ed.)]