Contemporary Jewish Prose in the USA
- Issue:
- УДК / UDK: 821.111
- DOI:
- Abstract:
The essay presents an overview of Jewish American prose of the second half of the 20th — first two decades of the 21st century within the context of multicultural literature of the USA. The definition of Jewish literature remains a matter of debate. The author of the essay based on the opinions of critics concludes on the criterion for assigning a writer to Jewish literature. It is the artistic embodiment of the personal Jewish experience and identity in the works of literature, the view “from inside,” the perspective of collective memory and the connection to history and culture. Jewish literature today is one of the most developed ethnic segments of multicultural American literature. Writers under study are recognized throughout the world, their works have been translated into many languages, including Russian, they are known to readers and have already become the subject of study by literary scholars. Today, Jewish American literature is represented by two generations of writers. “Senior” generation includes the authors born in the 1920s–30s who began their literary careers in the 60s when there was a generational change in national literature. “Young” generation is represented by the writers who began their literary careers in the 2000s. On the example of the works of the most famous authors of both generations, the author of the essay talks about the factors determining the specific features of Jewish American prose and its characteristic themes, problems, and motives: the search for identity and roots, the representation and rethinking of the Holocaust, ethnic stereotypes, the image of the Jewish family, and the traditions of Jewish humor. The study of the works of modern Jewish writers in the United States allows us to draw conclusions about the display of border consciousness, national and ethnic identity, and collective memory in fiction.
- Keywords: Jewish American Literature, Multiculturalism, identity, collective memory, religion, stereotype.
- For citation:
Karasik-Updike, Olga. “Contemporary Jewish Prose in the USA.” Literature of the Americas, no. 10 (2021): 100–134.
https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-7894-2021-10-100-134 - References:
Allen 2002 — Allen, Woody. Zapiski gorodskogo nevrotika, malen'kogo ochkastogo evreia, vovremia brosivshego pisat' [Notes of the Urban Neurotic, Small Bespectacled Jew, Who Gave up Writing Before It Was Too Late]. St. Petersburg: Symposium Publ., 2002. (In Russ.)
Budick 2001 — Budick, Emily M., ed. Ideology and Jewish Identity in Israeli and American Literature. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001.
Chabon 2006 — Chabon, Michael. Prikliucheniia Kavalera i Kleia [The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay]. St. Petersburg: Amphora Publ., 2006. (In Russ.)
Chametzky et al. 2000 — Chametzky, Jules, John Felstiner, Hilene Flanzbaum, and Kathryn Hellerstein, eds. Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000.
Denisova 2009 — Denisova, Tamara N. “Vsesvіtnі tragedії vіd Dzhonatana Safrana Foera.” [“The Universal Tragedies by Jonathan Safran Foer.”] Slovo і chas, no. 1 (2009): 28 –38. (In Ukrainian)
Filiushkina 2005 — Filiushkina, Svetlana N. “Natsional'nyi stereotip v massovom soznanii i literature” [“National stereotype in mass consciousness and literature (experience of the research approach)”]. Logos 49, no. 4 (2005): 141 –155. (In Russ.)
Foer 2010 — Foer, Jonathan S. Polnaia illiuminatsiia [Everything is Illuminated]. Moscow: Eksmo Publ., 2010. (In Russ.)
Gudman 2013 — Gudman, Allegra. Sem'ia Markovits [The Family Markowitz]. LitMir: electronic library: [website]. Updated October 16, 2013. https://www.litmir.me/br/?b=177699&p=1. (In Russ.)
Heller 1998 — Heller, Joseph. Gold, ili Ne khuzhe zolota [Good As Gold]. Moscow: AST Publ.; Khar'kov: Folio Publ., 1998. (In Russ.)
Heller 2002 — Heller, Joseph. Vidit bog [God Knows]. Moscow: Inostranka Publ.; B.S.G.-Press Publ., 2002. (In Russ.)
Krauss 2013 — Krauss, Nicole. Bol'shoi dom [Great House]. Moscow: Corpus Publ., 2013. (In Russ.)
Krauss 2019 — Krauss, Nicole. V sumrachnom lesu [Forest Dark]. Moscow: Tekst Publ.; Knizhniki Publ., 2019. (In Russ.)
Malamud 1996 — Malamud, Bernard. Talking Horse. Bernard Malamud on Life and Work. Edited by Alan Cheuse, Nicholas Delbanco. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.
McClymond 2007 — McClymond, Kathryn. “The Chosen: Defining American Judaism.” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 25, no. 2 (2007): 4 –23.
Ozick 2002 — Ozick, Synthia. Introduction to The Complete Works of Isaac Babel, by Isaac Babel, 13 –18. New York; London: W.W. Norton, 2002.
Ozick 2010 — Ozick, Synthia. Putermesser i moskovskaia rodstvennitsa [Puttermesser and a Moscow Relative]. Moscow: Tekst Publ.; Knizhniki Publ., 2010. (In Russ.)
Ozick 2012 — Ozick, Synthia. Shal' [The Shawl]. Moscow: Tekst Publ.; Knizhniki Publ., 2012. (In Russ.)
Paley 2012 — Paley, Grace. Mechty na mertvom iazyke [Dreamer in a Dead Language]. Moscow: Tekst Publ.; Knizhniki Publ., 2012. (In Russ.)
Potok 2013 — Potok, Chaim. Izbrannik [The Chosen]. Moscow: Tekst Publ.; Knizhniki Publ., 2013. (In Russ.)
Roth 1994 — Roth, Philip. Bolezn' Portnogo. Professor zhelaniia. Proshchai, Kolambus [Portnoy’s Complaint. The Professor of Desire. Goodbye, Columbus]. Vilnius: Polina Publ., 1994. (In Russ.)
Roth 2002 — Roth, Philip. Moia muzhskaia Pravda [My Life as A Man]. St. Petersburg: Limbus Press Publ., 2002. (In Russ.)
Roth 2001 — Roth, Philip. Sluchai Portnogo [Portnoy’s Complaint]. St. Petersburg: Limbus Press Publ., 2001. (In Russ.)
Shteyngart 2007 — Shteyngart, Gary. Absurdistan [Absurdistan]. Moscow: Amphora Publ., 2007. (In Russ.)
Varvogli 2001 — Varvogli, Aliki. The World that is the Book. Paul Auster’s Fiction. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001.
Vol'tskaia 2012 — Vol'tskaia, Tat'iana. “Kniga ʻBumazhnye mostyʼ” [“The Book ʻPaper Bridgesʼ”]. Radio Svoboda (website), June 21, 2012. https://www.svoboda.org/a/24622403.html (In Russ.)
Wisse 2008 — Wisse, Ruth R. Sovremennyi evreiskii literaturnyi kanon. Puteshestvie po iazykam i stranam. [The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey Through Language and Culture.] Moscow: Mosty kul'tury Publ., 2008. (In Russ.)
Zverev 2002 — Zverev, Aleksei M. “Triumf ochkarika” [“The Bespectacled Man’s Triumph”]. Lekhaim 123, no. 7 (2002). https://lechaim.ru/ARHIV/123/n2.htm (In Russ.)
