Unclean Lips : Obscenity, Jews, and American Culture / Josh Lambert.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lambert, Josh, Author.

Series:

Goldstein-Goren series in American Jewish history.

Goldstein-Goren Series in American Jewish History ; 10

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

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

Obscene words--Humor.

Censorship--United States.

Obscenity (Law)--United States.

Erotic comic books, strips, etc--United States--History and criticism.

Pornography--Social aspects--United States.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (278 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : New York University Press, [2013]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Winner of the 2014 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award presented by the Association for Jewish StudiesJews have played an integral role in the history of obscenity in America. For most of the 20th century, Jewish entrepreneurs and editors led the charge against obscenity laws. Jewish lawyers battled literary censorship even when their non-Jewish counterparts refused to do so, and they won court decisions in favor of texts including Ulysses, A Howl, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, and Tropic of Cancer. Jewish literary critics have provided some of the most influential courtroom testimony on behalf of freedom of expression.The anti-Semitic stereotype of the lascivious Jew has made many historians hesitant to draw a direct link between Jewishness and obscenity. In Unclean Lips, Josh Lambert addresses the Jewishness of participants in obscenity controversies in the U.S. directly, exploring the transformative roles played by a host of neglected figures in the development of modern and postmodern American culture.The diversity of American Jewry means that there is no single explanation for Jews' interventions in this field. Rejecting generalizations, this bookoffers case studies that pair cultural histories with close readings of both contested texts and trial transcripts to reveal the ways in which specific engagements with obscenity mattered to particular American Jews at discrete historical moments.Reading American culture from Theodore Dreiser and Henry Miller to Curb Your Enthusiasm and FCC v. Fox, Unclean Lips analyzes the variable historical and cultural factors that account for the central role Jews have played in the struggles over obscenity and censorship in the modern United States.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Sexual Anti-Semitism and Pornotopia

2. The Prestige of Dirty Words and Pictures

3. Otherfuckers and Motherfuckers

4. Seductive Modesty

Conclusion

Notes

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

1-4798-5158-2

OCLC:

861081472