The Theatre Of George Jean Nathan Chapters And Documents Toward A History Of The New American Drama

Author : Judith Ruderman
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253036976
Total Pages : 275 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

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Download or read book Passing Fancies in Jewish American Literature and Culture written by Judith Ruderman and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-09 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This scholarly study explores the conflicting forces of assimilation and cultural heritage in literary portrayals of Jewish American identity. In Passing Fancies in Jewish American Literature and Culture Judith Ruderman takes on the fraught question of who passes for Jewish in American literature and culture. In today’s contemporary political climate, religious and racial identities are being reconceived as responses to culture and environment, rather than essential qualities. Many Jews continue to hold conflicting ideas about their identity?seeking deep engagement with Jewish history and the experiences of the Jewish people while holding steadfastly to the understanding that identity is fluid and multivalent. Looking at carefully chosen texts from American literature, Ruderman elaborates on the strategies Jews have used to “pass” from the late nineteenth century to the present?nose jobs, renaming, clothing changes, religious and racial reclassification, and even playing baseball. While traversing racial and religious identities has always been a feature of America’s nation of immigrants, Ruderman shows how the complexities of identity formation and deformation are critically relevant during this important cultural moment.