Maurice Samuels
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804763844
- eISBN:
- 9780804773423
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804763844.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Jewish Studies
This book brings to light little-known works of literature produced from 1830 to 1870 by the first generation of Jews born as French citizens. These writers, it asserts, used fiction as a laboratory ...
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This book brings to light little-known works of literature produced from 1830 to 1870 by the first generation of Jews born as French citizens. These writers, it asserts, used fiction as a laboratory to experiment with new forms of Jewish identity relevant to the modern world, and, in their stories and novels, responded to the stereotypical depictions of Jews in French culture while creatively adapting the forms and genres of the French literary tradition. They also offered innovative solutions to the central dilemmas of Jewish modernity in the French context—including how to reconcile their identities as Jews with the universalizing demands of the French revolutionary tradition. While theit solutions ranged from complete assimilation to a modern brand of orthodoxy, these writers collectively illustrate the creativity of a community in the face of unprecedented upheaval.Less
This book brings to light little-known works of literature produced from 1830 to 1870 by the first generation of Jews born as French citizens. These writers, it asserts, used fiction as a laboratory to experiment with new forms of Jewish identity relevant to the modern world, and, in their stories and novels, responded to the stereotypical depictions of Jews in French culture while creatively adapting the forms and genres of the French literary tradition. They also offered innovative solutions to the central dilemmas of Jewish modernity in the French context—including how to reconcile their identities as Jews with the universalizing demands of the French revolutionary tradition. While theit solutions ranged from complete assimilation to a modern brand of orthodoxy, these writers collectively illustrate the creativity of a community in the face of unprecedented upheaval.
