The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It Vol 1 No 23 April 15 1897 A Weekly Magazine For Boys And Girls

Author : Jeffrey A. Marx
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
ISBN 13 : 1978836368
Total Pages : 158 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (788 download)

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Download or read book Smoothing the Jew written by Jeffrey A. Marx and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2024-06-14 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The turn of the nineteenth century in the United States saw the substantial influx of immigrants and a corresponding increase in anti-immigration and nativist tendencies among longer-settled Americans. Jewish immigrants were often the object of such animosity, being at once the object of admiration and anxiety for their perceived economic and social successes. One result was their frequent depiction in derogatory caricatures on the stage and in print. Smoothing the Jew investigates how Jewish artists of the time attempted to “smooth over” these demeaning portrayals by focusing on the first Jewish comic strip published in English, Harry Hershfield’s Abie the Agent. Jeffrey Marx demonstrates how Hershfield created a Jewish protagonist who in part reassured nativists of the Jews’ ability to assimilate into American society while also encouraging immigrants and their children that, over time, they would be able to adopt American customs without losing their distinctly Jewish identity.