Identity Papers: Contemporary Narratives of American Jewishness

257 Pages·2011·2.314 MB·English

by  Helene Meyers

JeWIsH sTUDIes / LITerAry CrITICIsM identity papers
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Identity Papers argues that contemporary Jewish American literature s

revises our understanding of Jewishness and Jewish difference.
Contemporary Narratives of American Jewishness
Moving beyond the reductive labeling of texts and authors as “too i
d
Jewish” or “not Jewish enough,” and focusing instead on narratives
e
that portray Jewish regeneration through feminist Orthodoxy,
n
queerness, off-whiteness, and intermarriage, Helene Meyers resists a
lachrymose view of contemporary Jewish American life. She argues t
i
that such gendered, sexed, and raced debates about Jewish identity t
become opportunities rather than crises, signs of creative potential y
rather than symptoms of assimilation and deracination. Thus,

feminist debates within Orthodoxy are allied to Jewish continuity p
by Rebecca Goldstein, Allegra Goodman, and Tova Mirvis; the a
geography of Jewish identity is racialized by Alfred Uhry, Tony
p
Kushner, and Philip Roth; and the works of Jyl Lynn Felman, Judith
e
Katz, Lev Raphael, and Michael Lowenthal queer the Jewish family as
r
they reveal homophobia to be an abomination. Even as Identity Papers
s
expands Jewish literary horizons and offers much-needed alternatives
to the culture wars between liberal and traditional Jews, it argues
that Jewish difference productively troubles dominant narratives of
feminist, queer, and whiteness studies. Meyers demonstrates that
the evolving Jewish American literary renaissance is anything but
provincial; rather, it is engaged with categories of difference central
to contemporary academic discourses and our national life.
HeLene Meyers is Professor of English and McManis University
Chair at Southwestern University. She is the author of Femicidal
Fears: Narratives of the Female Gothic Experience, also published by
SUNY Press, and Reading Michael Chabon.
State UniverSity of new york PreSS
Helene Meyers
www.sunypress.edu

Identity Papers
Meyers, Helene
Published by State University of New York Press
Meyers, H..
Identity Papers: Contemporary Narratives of American Jewishness.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Project MUSE., https://muse.jhu.edu/.
For additional information about this book
https://muse.jhu.edu/book/12684
Access provided by National University of Kaohsiung (6 Mar 2018 12:04 GMT)
Identity Papers

Identity Papers
Meyers, Helene
Published by State University of New York Press
Meyers, H..
Identity Papers: Contemporary Narratives of American Jewishness.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Project MUSE., https://muse.jhu.edu/.
For additional information about this book
https://muse.jhu.edu/book/12684
Access provided by National University of Kaohsiung (6 Mar 2018 12:02 GMT)
Identity Papers
Contemporary Narratives
of American Jewishness
HELENE MEYERS
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2011 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise
without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meyers, Helene.
Identity papers : contemporary narratives of American Jewishness /
Helene Meyers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-3923-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. American literature—Jewish authors—History and criticism. 2. Jews
in literature. 3. Judaism and literature—United States. 4. Jews—Identity—
United States. 5. Homosexuality—Religious aspects—Judaism. I. Title.
PS153.J4M48 2011
810.9'8924—dc22 2011003859
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Identity Papers
Meyers, Helene
Published by State University of New York Press
Meyers, H..
Identity Papers: Contemporary Narratives of American Jewishness.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011.
Project MUSE., https://muse.jhu.edu/.
For additional information about this book
https://muse.jhu.edu/book/12684
Access provided by National University of Kaohsiung (6 Mar 2018 12:00 GMT)
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Chapter 1
Introduction: Jewish Difference, Jewish Reading 1
Chapter 2
Feminism and Orthodoxy: Not an Oxymoron 19
Orthodoxy as Patriarchy: Lovingkindness and
Preparing for Sabbath 22
Continuity through Feminist Transformation:
Kaaterskill Falls, Mazel, The Ladies Auxiliary,
and The Outside World 29
Leaving Orthodoxy with a Blessing: A Price
above Rubies 62
Chapter 3
Queering the Jewish Family 73
Homophobia as Assimilation and Abomination:
“The State of Extreme Agitation” and Dancing
on Tisha B’Av 80
From Generation to Generation: Running
Fiercely toward a High Thin Sound,
Torch Song Trilogy, In Every Laugh a Tear,
and “Of Balloons and Bubbles” 93
Twinning Jewishness and Queerness: The Same
Embrace 113