Nineteenth-Century Jewish Literature A Reader [Hardcover]

Recent scholarship has brought to light the existence of a dynamic world of specifically Jewish forms of literature in the nineteenth centuryfiction by Jews, about Jews, and often designed largely for Jews. This volume makes this material accessible to English speakers for the first time, offering a selection of Jewish fiction from France, Great Britain, and the German-speaking world. The stories are remarkably varied, ranging from historical fiction to sentimental romance, to social satire, but they all engage with key dilemmas including assimilation, national allegiance, and the position of women. Offering unique insights into the hopes and fears of Jews experiencing the dramatic impact of modernity, the literature collected in this book will provide compelling reading for all those interested in modern Jewish history and culture, whether general readers, students, or scholars.

The editors selected short stories and novellas that navigate four issues with particular relevance to nineteenth-century Jewish audiences modernization, assimilation, national allegiance, and the status of women . . . The stories do not articulate a singular vision for reconciling Jewish tradition with the rapid modernization of the non-Jewish world; rather each author engages the aforementioned themes differently, highlighting the interdisciplinarity of the collection. Moreover, the authors profiled here emulate and adapt literary styles popular with the majority cultures, justifying their place alongside canonical European authors . . . Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the collection is that, although the stories are placed into specific contexts, the stories reach across these boundaries, and the reader will find that the texts intersect thematically and structurally in almost limitless ways. This volume opens our eyes to a dynamic world of Jewish literature in nineteenth-century Europe. As a compendium of previously unavailable material,Nineteenth-Century Jewish LiteralÃ