ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the temporal structure of The Family Mashber. As the title of the novel and the chapter titles indicate, crisis ('mashber'), sudden change, rupture, break and collapse are key to the chronological map of the work. The chapter argues for the significance of the temporal fork in relation to the novel's overall temporal structure and as an expression of Der Nister's thinking on the possibility of redemption in history. On 20 September 1937, Literaturnaia gazeta [The Literary Gazette], the leading journal of the Soviet literary establishment, published several articles on historical fiction. These included a positive review of Lion Feuchtwanger's historical novel The False Nero and a general call for more works of historical fiction, especially from the national minorities. Serial publication of both Der Nister's Mishpokhe Mashber [The Family Mashber] and the second volume of David Bergelson's Baym Dnyepr [At the Dniepr] had begun in 1935.
