The “Hidden” Jewish Presence in 20th-Century Fiction

Session Submission Type: Panel Session

Abstract

This panel will examine works of 20th-century fiction that allude to a hidden or occluded Jewish presence, one that carries with it some of the social, economic, “racial,” biological and theological stereotypes that have been attached to Jews over the centuries. The presenters will analyze literary works by both Jewish and non-Jewish writers from Sweden, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom, in order to consider the conceptions of Jewish identity – Jew as Other, Jew as not-quite-White, Jew as gendered embodiment – that are posited or represented by the works in question.

Dr. Howard Sklar (University of Helsinki) will discuss the Swedish Nobel laureate Pär Lagerkvist’s adaptations of the “Wandering Jew” legend (see, e.g., Hasan-Rokem and Dundes, eds., 1986) in two of his novels, The Sybil (1956) and The Death of Ahasuerus (1960). In his paper, “The Hidden Presence Amongst Us: ‘The Wandering Jew’ as Religious and Racial Other in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sybil and The Death of Ahasuerus,” Sklar claims that the ambiguities of these two post-Holocaust representations feed – wittingly or unwittingly – into popular perceptions of the “hidden threat” posed by Jews.

Dr. Naomi Taub (University of California at Los Angeles) will give an overview of mid-to-late twentieth century Jewish texts from multiple countries, focusing primarily on the United States and South Africa. In her paper, “Not in My Front Yard: Privacy, Whiteness, and Liberal Subjectivity in Global Anglophone Jewish Literature,” Taub demonstrates how the global materiality of suburban whiteness and, in particular, its promise of privacy and hiddenness, impacted how Jewish authors throughout the Anglosphere constructed Jewishness in relation to whiteness and postwar liberalism.

Professor Sue Vice (University of Sheffield) will consider the omnipresent representation of Jewish characters in Golden Age (1920-1960) British detective fiction. In her paper, “Retrieving the Jewish Presence in British ‘Golden Age’ Detective Fiction (1920-1960),” Vice claims that this Jewish presence is an indispensable element of these novels’ generic and narrative construction, and significant instances of what Bryan Cheyette (1993) calls the ‘semitic discourse’ within British society.

Sub Unit

• Modern Jewish Literature and Culture

Chair

• Benjamin Schreier, Pennsylvania State University

Individual Presentations

• The Hidden Presence Amongst Us: “The Wandering Jew” as Religious and Racial Other in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sybil and The Death of Ahasuerus - Howard Sklar, University of Helsinki

• Not in My Front Yard: Privacy, Whiteness, and Liberal Subjectivity in Global Anglophone Jewish Literature - Naomi Taub, UCLA Leve Center for Jewish Studies

• Retrieving the Jewish Presence in British ‘Golden Age’ Detective Fiction (1920-1960) - Sue Vice

Zoom Host

• Zoom Host 15