"American Naturalism and the Jews" examines the unabashed
anti-Semitism of five notable American naturalist novelists
otherwise known for their progressive social values. Hamlin
Garland, Frank Norris, and Theodore Dreiser all pushed for social
improvements for the poor and oppressed, while Edith Wharton and
Willa Cather both advanced the public status of women. But they all
also expressed strong prejudices against the Jewish race and faith
throughout their fiction, essays, letters, and other writings,
producing a contradiction in American literary history that has
stymied scholars and, until now, gone largely unexamined. In this
breakthrough study, Donald Pizer confronts this disconcerting
strain of anti-Semitism pervading American letters and culture,
illustrating how easily prejudice can coexist with even the most
progressive ideals.
Pizer shows how these writers' racist impulses represented more
than just personal biases, but resonated with larger social and
ideological movements within American culture. Anti-Semitic
sentiment motivated such various movements as the western farmers'
populist revolt and the East Coast patricians' revulsion against
immigration, both of which Pizer discusses here. This antagonism
toward Jews and other non-Anglo-Saxon ethnicities intersected not
only with these authors' social reform agendas but also with their
literary method of representing the overpowering forces of
heredity, social or natural environment, and savage instinct.
General
Imprint: |
University of Illinois Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
June 2008 |
First published: |
July 2008 |
Authors: |
Donald Pizer
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 18mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
112 |
Edition: |
Extended |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-252-03343-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
General
|
LSN: |
0-252-03343-4 |
Barcode: |
9780252033438 |
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