Red, Black, And Jew: New Frontiers In Hebrew Literature (jewish History, Life, And Culture)
by Stephen Katz /
2009 / English / PDF
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Between 1890 and 1924, more than two million Jewish immigrants
landed on America's shores. The story of their integration into
American society, as they traversed the difficult path between
assimilation and retention of a unique cultural identity, is
recorded in many works by American Hebrew writers.
Between 1890 and 1924, more than two million Jewish immigrants
landed on America's shores. The story of their integration into
American society, as they traversed the difficult path between
assimilation and retention of a unique cultural identity, is
recorded in many works by American Hebrew writers.Red,
Black, and Jew
Red,
Black, and Jew illuminates a unique and often overlooked
aspect of these literary achievements, charting the ways in which
the Native American and African American creative cultures served
as a model for works produced within the minority Jewish
community.
illuminates a unique and often overlooked
aspect of these literary achievements, charting the ways in which
the Native American and African American creative cultures served
as a model for works produced within the minority Jewish
community.
Exploring the paradox of Hebrew literature in the United States,
in which separateness, and engagement and acculturation, are
equally strong impulses, Stephen Katz presents voluminous
examples of a process that could ultimately be considered
Americanization. Key components of this process, Katz argues,
were poems and works of prose fiction written in a way that
evoked Native American forms or African American folk songs and
hymns. Such Hebrew writings presented America as a unified
society that could assimilate all foreign cultures. At no other
time in the history of Jews in diaspora have Hebrew writers
considered the fate of other minorities to such a degree. Katz
also explores the impact of the creation of the state of Israel
on this process, a transformation that led to ambivalence in
American Hebrew literature as writers were given a choice between
two worlds.
Exploring the paradox of Hebrew literature in the United States,
in which separateness, and engagement and acculturation, are
equally strong impulses, Stephen Katz presents voluminous
examples of a process that could ultimately be considered
Americanization. Key components of this process, Katz argues,
were poems and works of prose fiction written in a way that
evoked Native American forms or African American folk songs and
hymns. Such Hebrew writings presented America as a unified
society that could assimilate all foreign cultures. At no other
time in the history of Jews in diaspora have Hebrew writers
considered the fate of other minorities to such a degree. Katz
also explores the impact of the creation of the state of Israel
on this process, a transformation that led to ambivalence in
American Hebrew literature as writers were given a choice between
two worlds.
Reexamining long-neglected writers across a wide spectrum,
Reexamining long-neglected writers across a wide spectrum,Red, Black, and Jew
Red, Black, and Jew celebrates an important chapter
in the history of Hebrew belles lettres.
celebrates an important chapter
in the history of Hebrew belles lettres.
