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JEWISH WOMEN AND THE SPECTER OF THE OLD WORLD IN JEWISH IMMIGRANT FICTION

dc.contributor.advisorTaylor, Richard C., 1956-en_US
dc.contributor.authorGreer, Lena Bashamen_US
dc.contributor.departmentEnglishen_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-06-04T19:53:53Z
dc.date.available2015-06-04T19:53:53Z
dc.date.issued2015en_US
dc.description.abstractThis thesis examines three Jewish-American authors and how they portray the main female character in relation to the main male character to expand the research of gender discourse in literary analysis. There was a wave of Jewish immigration to the United States from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century as Jewish populations sought refuge from persecution in their country of origin. There were conflicting ideas surrounding what the "American Dream" meant for this ethnic group. Orthodox Jewish men dreamed of opportunities to continue the patriarchal societal structure that American society also reflected; however, the illusion of opportunities in America led many Jewish women to dream of finally pursuing things long denied, such as an education. The Jewish immigrant women who attempted to realize their dreams were met with heavy opposition from both Orthodox Jewish enforcers and American society, causing many Jewish women to settle for their traditional gender role/identity. Because Jewish women are not well documented in the historical record, Jewish immigrant fiction is used to identify the Jewish immigrant women's experience with facing the problems with the myth--that is also known as the American Dream. The works used in the literary analysis are Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto (1896) by Abraham Cahan, The Assistant (1957) by Bernard Malamud, and Bread Givers (1925) by Anzia Yezierska. What emerges in the literary analysis is that Jewish-American male authors present Jewish women as incapable of melding Jewish and American ideas, whereas Yezierska portrays a Jewish woman as bold and capable against the specter of the patriarchal hegemony. All of the Jewish women surveyed depict the struggle with hybrid identity development; however, the only Jewish woman who seems comfortable with how her identity has evolved to become Jewish-American is Yezierska's character, Sara. Both Cahan and Malamud's female characters' stories end with a hesitation and fear because they are unable to meld the Jewish and American aspects of their lives.  en_US
dc.description.degreeM.A.en_US
dc.format.extent70 p.en_US
dc.format.mediumdissertations, academicen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10342/4902
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherEast Carolina Universityen_US
dc.subjectEthnic studiesen_US
dc.subjectGender studiesen_US
dc.subjectAmerican literatureen_US
dc.subjectAcculturationen_US
dc.subjectAssimilationen_US
dc.subjectHybrid identityen_US
dc.subjectImmigrationen_US
dc.subjectJewish studiesen_US
dc.subjectPatriarchal societal conflictsen_US
dc.subjectYekl
dc.subjectAssistant, The
dc.subjectBread givers
dc.subject.lcshJewish women--United States--Fiction
dc.subject.lcshJewish women in literature
dc.subject.lcshSex discrimination against women--United States--Fiction
dc.subject.lcshCahan, Abraham, 1860-1951. Yekl
dc.subject.lcshMalamud, Bernard. Assistant
dc.subject.lcshYezierska, Anzia, 1880?-1970. Bread givers
dc.titleJEWISH WOMEN AND THE SPECTER OF THE OLD WORLD IN JEWISH IMMIGRANT FICTIONen_US
dc.typeMaster's Thesisen_US

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