In this Book
- American Talmud: The Cultural Work of Jewish American Fiction
- Book
- 2007
- Published by: State University of New York Press
- Series: SUNY series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture
summary
Looks at the role of Jewish American fiction in the larger context of American culture. 'In American Talmud, Ezra Cappell redefines the genre of Jewish American fiction and places it squarely within the larger context of American literature. Cappell departs from the conventional approach of defining Jewish American authors solely in terms of their ethnic origins and sociological constructs, and instead contextualizes their fiction within the theological heritage of Jewish culture. By deliberately emphasizing historical and ethnographic links to religions, religious texts, and traditions, Cappell demonstrates that twentieth-century and contemporary Jewish American fiction writers have been codifying a new Talmud, an American Talmud, and argues that the literary production of Jews in America might be seen as one more stage of rabbinic commentary on the scriptural inheritance of the Jewish people.
Table of Contents
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- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- pp. ix-x
- INTRODUCTION
- pp. 1-25
- 5. Four Questions for Allegra Goodman
- pp. 119-148
- WORKS CITED
- pp. 213-221
Additional Information
ISBN
9780791479957
MARC Record
OCLC
140217164
Pages
244
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No