Passing Fancies in Jewish American Literature and Culture [Paperback]

InPassing Fancies in Jewish American Literature and CultureJudith Ruderman takes on the fraught question of who passes for Jewish in American literature and culture. In todays 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 identityseeking, on the one hand, deep engagement with Jewish history and the experiences of the Jewish people, while holding steadfastly, on the other hand, to the understanding that identity is fluid and multivalent. Looking at a carefully chosen set of texts from American literature, Ruderman elaborates on the strategies Jews have used to pass from the late 19th century to the presentnose jobs, renaming, clothing changes, religious and racial reclassification, and even playing baseball. While traversing racial and religious identities has always been a feature of Americas nation of immigrants, Ruderman shows how the complexities of identity formation and deformation are critically relevant during this important cultural moment.

1. This book takes on the question of passing and who is or isnt identified as a Jew. This is an important topic to those who study Jewish religious identity and authenticity, material culture, as well as gender and sexuality. The book explores questions in wide currency today: what constitutes an authentic identity and who has the right to assume a particular identity.

2. The book is a timely exploration of questions in wide currency today: what constitutes an authentic identity and who has the right to assume a particular identity. It responds to the troubling issue of minorities comfort level in the current political and cultural climate in America.

3. The author is a seasoned scholar of literature and culture. She has written widely on Jewish topics throughout her long career.

Judith Ruderman is VisitlÃ_