Der israelische Aphoristiker Elazar Benyoetz

The once dominant role played by the art of aphorism in the various genres of European literature is a thing of the past. The present study sets out to show why traditional contemporary aphoristic writing is frequently derivative and how the poet Elazar Benyoëeuml;tz breaks with the conventions prevailing in it. Of significance here, as in the much broader currents of contemporary philosophy, is the way in which the individual 'other' attains a new status over and against the 'self' in Benyoëtz' work. Whereas in traditional aphoristic writing the 'other' is largely addressed via the unmasking of collective clichéeacute;s, Benyoëtz draws upon the individualising elements of aphoristic discourse to achieve an individualisation of the 'other'.