Imagining each other : Blacks and Jews in contemporary American literature / Ethan Goffman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goffman, Ethan, 1961-

Series:

SUNY Series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture

SUNY series in modern Jewish literature and culture

SUNY series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans in literature.

African Americans--Relations with Jews.

African Americans.

American literature--African American authors--History and criticism.

American literature.

American literature--Jewish authors--History and criticism.

American literature--20th century--History and criticism.

Black people in literature.

Black people--Relations with Jews.

Black people.

Ethnic relations in literature.

Jews in literature.

Judaism and literature--United States--History--20th century.

Judaism and literature.

Literature and society--United States--History--20th century.

Literature and society.

Race relations in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (279 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, 2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Imagining Each Other explores Black-Jewish relations by examining the complex ways they have portrayed each other in recent American literature. It illuminates their dramatic alliances and conflicts and their dilemmas of identity and assimilation, and addresses the persistent questions of ethnic division and economic inequality that have so encompassed the Black-Jewish narrative in America. Focusing primarily on the 1960s and its aftermath, the book reveals how Jewish and African Americans view each other through a complex dialectic of identification and difference, channeled by ever-shifting positions within American society. Through the works of Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Amiri Baraka, Paule Marshall, Grace Paley, and others, Goffman unfolds a story of two peoples with powerful biblical and mythic connections that replay themselves in contemporary circumstances. In doing so, he uncovers layers of meaning in works that dramatize this turbulent, paradoxical relationship, and reveals how this relationship is paradigmatic of multicultural American self-invention.

Contents:

""Half Title Page""; ""Title Page""; ""Copyright Page""; ""Dedication Page""; ""Table of Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction""; ""Monologues and Dialogues""; ""Black (E)Masculinity and Anti-Semitism""; ""Jewish Assimilationism""; ""Ambivalent Estrangements""; ""Burning Bridges""; ""Jewish Backlash""; ""Aftermaths""; ""A New Dispensation""; ""Fragmentation and Multiculturalism""; ""Parallels and Paralysis""; ""Glossary""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""; ""Back Matter""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-251) and index.

ISBN:

9780791492079

0791492079

OCLC:

794701308