Immigration in Jewish Canadian Literature

• In Event: Jewish Difference Across Borders

Abstract

The issue of immigration is a significant theme in Canadian Jewish literature. I am dealing here with four narratives (two stories and two novels) by Canadian Jewish authors: “The Neighbour” by Naim Kattan, “Something Happened Here” by Norman Levine, CAFÉ DES WESTENS by Norman Ravvin, and THE SACRIFISE by Adele Wiseman. All narratives depict an adult son who identifies with his elderly or deceased father. The sons experience some illusionary emotion that there is enchanted attractive magic dwelling in their father's former homeland. However, herein lies the problem: the fathers were forced to leave their homelands either before the children were born or when they were very young, due to the tragic circumstances of Jewish destiny, such as pogroms or Holocaust, but they remain spiritually and emotionally attached to their previous home. Even after they have immigrated to Canada and achieved financial and social success, in their minds they have never actually left their places of origin. This, however, poses a problem for the sons, who are raised to feel that Canada is not their homeland, but have no memories of their fathers' homeland to yearn for. They are the real uprooted people, forced by their fathers to reject Canada but simultaneously unable to attach themselves to the old homeland. The sons are left feeling that they must return to the homeland of their fathers, a mission which constitutes the main desire of their lives. Even though each narrative is developed in its own way, there remains a common theme—namely, that of the son who is unable to come to terms with the fact that his father was forced to desert his previous homeland. But, in contrast to their sons, the fathers are resilient and are able to come to terms with their pasts and the fact that they must now live in a remote and unfamiliar world. The sons, who are weaker, cultivate in their own minds the trauma of having been uprooted and become obsessed by it, devoting an inordinate amount of their lives to attempting to reconnect with the land of their fathers.

Author

• Rina Lapidus, Bar-Ilan University