123047 PS PS Literary Studies (2023S)

Inscribed onto the Statue of Liberty, "The New Colossus," a sonnet by Jewish-American poet Emma Lazarus, is just one example of the significant role Jewish- American literature has played in the formation of American identity. Yet what is Jewish American literature? Literature written by Jews in America? Literature written about Jews in America? What is "Jewish"? And what is "American"? In what way do they conflate, or oppose (if at all)? In this course we will attempt to provide (different) answers to these fascinating questions. Reading works of Jewish American literature (written in English) from the nineteenth century to the present, we will engage with different genres—short stories, poems, novellas, novels, autobiography and film. We will discuss topics such as immigration, (resistance to and the complexity of) assimilation, multilingualism, Whiteness (are Jews white?), Blackness (are Jews black?) as well as literary representations of the Holocaust and the State of Israel in order to examine the extent to which Jewish American literature has not only shaped American identity but has been shaped by it.

Aims:
Students will become familiar with some of the major works and topics of Jewish American literature from the late nineteenth century to the present, and will acknowledge its immense contribution to American literary, cultural and political identity. They will engage with a range of literary genres and critical theories (such as Whiteness, migrant and minor literature, sociolinguistics) which they will be able to apply in the analysis of literary texts not only in this course but also in their further studies. Additionally, students will acquire the skills for developing and composing an academic paper in literary studies: formulating a research question, properly using methodology and secondary sources and supporting the argument with evidence from the texts, among others.

Methods:

Classroom discussion, presentations, reading assignments