No Place in Time: The Hebraic Myth in Late-Nineteenth-Century American Literature

In nineteenth-century American literature, the Hebraic myth was reimagined as a metaphor for an ancient, pre-Christian past, but it was unable to address modern Jewishness. Sharon B. Oster's book explores how realist authors cast Jews as caught between a distant past and a promising American future, complicating debates over Eastern European immigration and assimilation. It includes Jewish female perspectives that recast plots of cultural assimilation through intermarriage in terms of time. The book highlights a shift in how Jewishness was represented in American literature and raises questions of identity, immigration, and religion.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 01 September 2021
Publisher: Wayne State University Press

No Place in Time: The Hebraic Myth in Late-Nineteenth-Century American Literature delves into the reimagining of the Hebraic myth, in which Jewishness was portrayed as a symbol of an ancient, pre-Christian past. While this myth was crucial to a Protestant understanding of time, it failed to adequately address the complexities of modern Jewishness, particularly in the context of the growing social and national concern surrounding the Jewish problem. Sharon B. Oster explores how realist authors responded to this challenge by portraying Jews as caught between a distant past and a promising American future. In either case, Jewishness transcended temporal boundaries, existing outside of linear progression.

The book also complicates the discussions surrounding Eastern European immigration in the 1880s and raises questions about assimilation into a Protestant American culture. The first chapter sets the stage by examining the literary world of periodicals, where Abraham Cahan emerged as a prominent voice representing Jewish immigrants navigating between nostalgia and a messianic future that defied linear progression. Moving from the margins to the center of literary realism, the second chapter focuses on Henry James's modernization of the noble Hebrew as a figure of mediation and reconciliation. The third chapter extends this analysis into the naturalism of Edith Wharton, who delves into issues of intimacy and intermarriage, placing the Jew at the crossroads of competing futures shaped by uncertainty and risk.

In the fourth chapter, a number of Jewish female perspectives are included, recasting plots of cultural assimilation through intermarriage in terms of time. These writers reclaim the Hebraic myth for themselves to envision a viable Jewish future, challenging the notion of a harmonious integration with American society.

Through its comprehensive exploration of the Hebraic myth in late-nineteenth-century American literature, No Place in Time offers valuable insights into the complex interplay between religion, identity, and cultural change. It sheds light on the ways in which writers responded to the challenges of modernity and sought to redefine Jewishness in the context of a rapidly evolving American society.

Weight: 333g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780814348802