| Belonging Too Well: Portraits of Identity in Cynthia Ozick's Fiction Contributor(s): Sivan, Miriam (Author) |
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ISBN: 1438425066 ISBN-13: 9781438425061 Publisher: State University of New York Press OUR PRICE: $33.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Jewish - Literary Criticism | Women Authors - Literary Criticism | American - General |
| Dewey: 813.54 |
| Series: SUNY Series in Modern Jewish Literature and Culture |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 6" W x 8.9" (0.85 lbs) 246 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish - Sex & Gender - Feminine |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In Belonging Too Well, Miriam Sivan draws on contemporary literary theory as well as traditional Jewish texts and culture to explore the question of identity in Cynthia Ozick's fiction. Many critics have pointed to a split in Ozick's work between Judaic and secular culture and values. Sivan suggests, however, that Ozick never settles for a simple either/or dichotomy between traditional Judaism and secular American culture, but that her protagonists instead fashion new means of living genuinely Jewish lives within the American Diaspora. Often they struggle not with not belonging to either the Old or the New Worlds, but of belonging too well to both. Part of a recent trend toward analyzing Jewish American literature in the context of a deep encounter with and understanding of Judaism and traditional Jewish texts, Sivan's study enables readers of Ozick's fiction to penetrate the complex webs she creates among cultures, time periods, and characters, some quite sober, others fantastic, all unusual. |