Required Texts

Tevye The Dairyman, Sholem Aleichem

The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and Other Stories, Kafka (trans. Neugroschel)

Satan in Goray, I. B. Singer

Mr. Mani, A. B. Yehoshua

See Under: Love, David Grossman

The Plot Against America, Philip Roth

An Hour in Paradise, Joan Leegant

Introduction

One way to think about any literature is to look at it in a national context: American Lit, British Lit, Chinese Lit, etc. We can study Jewish literature through a similar lens, looking at say Jewish-American Literature or, in regional terms, say Jewish writers of the Middle East. Such a lens would offer a reader the opportunity to study the tensions between and intersections of national and Jewish identities. This can be an interesting and productive way to study Jewish literature. However, Jewish identity typically crosses geopolitical boundaries. Thus, Jews, wherever they happen to be living, are just as likely to see themselves as being defined in relation to Torah (sacred text) as they are in relation to the country in which they reside. Also, Jews see themselves as sharing a common history as Jews, be they Ethiopian, Mexican, or American Jews. Thus, an American Jew feels that the Holocaust, the rescue of Ethiopian Jews, and the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict are as much a part of his or her personal and communal identity as is Sept. 11. Finally, as far as place of residence is concerned, many Jews are more likely to think in terms of Diaspora and Israel (sacred homeland) than they are in terms of a particular national identity (say, British, Russian, or American). Given this, I believe we can get a better understanding of modern and contemporary Jewish literature by reading texts written by Jews from throughout the world, which we will do in this class, focusing this semester on prose (primarily) and poetry by Russian, Polish, German-Czech, Israeli and American Jews.

I don’t expect you to like everything we read, but I hope you find most of it engaging. Some of it is quite innovative, some quite challenging. I hope that by the end of the semester you will have some knowledge of and insight into how Jewish writers represent Jewish life as well as knowledge of some of the ways in which the Jewish situation informs a text even when the text itself does not explicitly address the particulars of Jewish experience.

Requirements

I expect you to keep up with the assigned readings (and screenings of videos and dvds, for that matter). We’ll have weekly quizzes based on the readings.

You will write two essays for this class. The first will be a close reading of a passage selected from one of the texts we’ll read during the first half of the semester. You should select a passage that will give you the opportunity to discuss one of the major topics, tensions, issues, or themes having to do with Jewish life as it is represented in the literary texts. In the second essay, you will trace the development of a narrowly chosen topic (again having to do with Jewish life) as it is explored in three of the assigned texts. For the second essay, you’ll want to do some research (literary and other) appropriate to your chosen topic.

You will also do a creative project that will be presented both in the form of a written document and an oral presentation. For this project, you will be asked to develop a proposal for a novel, group of related short stories or poems, based on your own identity (gender, race, nationality, class, sexual orientation, religion, etc.). We’ll want to keep this project in mind throughout the semester as it will remind us to ask, of each text we read, questions such as what aspect of Jewish identity is represented here, and, what formal, aesthetic decisions were made in terms of how to most effectively represent this aspect.

This is a discussion class. To be part of the class, you need to be present—physically, intellectually, creatively, spiritually. Part of your grade will be based on your productive contributions to our discussion and other work. Attendance is important. Your final grade will be lowered one full letter for each absence beyond three.

Grading

Two essays @ 25% 50%

Quizzes 10%

Project 30%

Participation 10%

Schedule

Jan 18 Introduction

Selection of Modern and Contemporary Jewish Poetry

Jan 25 Tevye, The Dairyman, Sholem Aleichem

Fiddler on the Roof (video)

Feb 1 Selected Stories of Kafka

“The Judgment,” 53 – 72

“The Metamorphosis,” 115 – 188

“In the Penal Colony,” 189 – 229

“Before the Law,” 249 – 251

“An Imperial Message,” 263 – 265

“The Hunger Artist,” 303 – 316

Feb 8 Satan in Goray, I. B. Singer, part 1 (through page 118)

Image Before My Eyes (video)

Feb 15 Satan in Goray, part 2

Feb 22 Mr. Mani, Yehoshua, pp. 1 - 143

March 1 Mr. Mani, Yehoshua, pp. 145 - 289

March 8 Spring Break

March 15 Mr. Mani, Yehoshua, pp. 291 – 369

March 22 See Under: Love, Grossman, pp. 1 - 184

March 29 See Under: Love, Grossman, pp. 185 - 452

April 5 A Plot Against America, Roth, pp. 1 - 152

Crimes and Misdemeanors (video)

April 12 A Plot Against America, Roth, pp. 153 - 362

April 19 An Hour in Paradise, Leegant, pp. 1 - 105

April 26 An Hour in Paradise, Leegant, pp. 106 - 224