Ewa Morawska
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199793495
- eISBN:
- 9780190254667
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199793495.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter presents a number of essays which look at the issue of the ethnicity of Jewish people. The first essay compares the historical experiences of Jewish communities in different countries ...
More
This chapter presents a number of essays which look at the issue of the ethnicity of Jewish people. The first essay compares the historical experiences of Jewish communities in different countries and different periods. The second one examines the divisive role of ethnicity among the Jewish people in the 1920s through analysis of the case of Russian-born writer Moissaye Olgin's step towards communism. The third looks at the analytic value of ethnicity focusing on intermarriage, group blending and ethnic group strength in immigrant Jewish societies in the U.S. The next describes verbal communication of American Jews based on the result of a 2008 sociolinguistic survey. The following essay examines the relationship between identity and ethnicity as phenomena and concepts, focusing on the experiences of Jews in the U.S. Another examines a plural dimensional aspect of ethnic research on Jews. The seventh essay examines the usefulness of the ethnicity concept in studying Jews. The last one presents research concerning Jewish ethnicity and the application of the concept of ethnicity in the study of the Jewish experience.Less
This chapter presents a number of essays which look at the issue of the ethnicity of Jewish people. The first essay compares the historical experiences of Jewish communities in different countries and different periods. The second one examines the divisive role of ethnicity among the Jewish people in the 1920s through analysis of the case of Russian-born writer Moissaye Olgin's step towards communism. The third looks at the analytic value of ethnicity focusing on intermarriage, group blending and ethnic group strength in immigrant Jewish societies in the U.S. The next describes verbal communication of American Jews based on the result of a 2008 sociolinguistic survey. The following essay examines the relationship between identity and ethnicity as phenomena and concepts, focusing on the experiences of Jews in the U.S. Another examines a plural dimensional aspect of ethnic research on Jews. The seventh essay examines the usefulness of the ethnicity concept in studying Jews. The last one presents research concerning Jewish ethnicity and the application of the concept of ethnicity in the study of the Jewish experience.
Eli Lederhendler (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199793495
- eISBN:
- 9780190254667
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199793495.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This book explores new understandings and approaches to Jewish “ethnicity.” In current parlance regarding multicultural diversity, Jews are often considered to belong socially to the “majority,” ...
More
This book explores new understandings and approaches to Jewish “ethnicity.” In current parlance regarding multicultural diversity, Jews are often considered to belong socially to the “majority,” whereas “otherness” is reserved for “minorities.” But these group labels and their meanings have changed over time. This volume analyzes how “ethnic,” “ethnicity,” and “identity” have been applied to Jews, past and present, individually and collectively. Most of the chapters on the ethnicity of Jewish people and the social groups they form draw heavily on the case of American Jews, while others offer wider geographical perspectives. Chapters address ex-Soviet Jews in Philadelphia, comparing them to a similar population in Tel Aviv; communism and ethnicity; intermarriage and group blending; American Jewish dialogue; and German Jewish migration in the interwar decades. The text proposes to enhance the clarity of definitions used to relate “ethnic identity” to the Jews. It points to ethnic experience in a variety of different social manifestations: language use in social context, marital behavior across generations, spatial and occupational differentiation in relation to other members of society and new immigrant communities as sub-ethnic units within larger Jewish populations. The chapters also ponder the relevance of individual experience and preference as compared to the weight of larger socializing factors.Less
This book explores new understandings and approaches to Jewish “ethnicity.” In current parlance regarding multicultural diversity, Jews are often considered to belong socially to the “majority,” whereas “otherness” is reserved for “minorities.” But these group labels and their meanings have changed over time. This volume analyzes how “ethnic,” “ethnicity,” and “identity” have been applied to Jews, past and present, individually and collectively. Most of the chapters on the ethnicity of Jewish people and the social groups they form draw heavily on the case of American Jews, while others offer wider geographical perspectives. Chapters address ex-Soviet Jews in Philadelphia, comparing them to a similar population in Tel Aviv; communism and ethnicity; intermarriage and group blending; American Jewish dialogue; and German Jewish migration in the interwar decades. The text proposes to enhance the clarity of definitions used to relate “ethnic identity” to the Jews. It points to ethnic experience in a variety of different social manifestations: language use in social context, marital behavior across generations, spatial and occupational differentiation in relation to other members of society and new immigrant communities as sub-ethnic units within larger Jewish populations. The chapters also ponder the relevance of individual experience and preference as compared to the weight of larger socializing factors.
