Course Description
Summary
In this course, we鈥檒l read fictions by read three major Jewish writers of the last and present century: I.B. Singer (1902-1991), the first Yiddish writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature; Cynthia Ozick (1928- ) and Grace Paley (1922-2007). Old World shtetls and the streets of Warsaw; Broadway, the Bronx, and Greenwich Village are settings rife with dybbuks, ghosts, and golems; as well as writers, rabbis kibbitzers; infidels peaceniks. The stories are full of speech鈥(鈥渇rom God's mouth to your ear, or better, to my ear鈥)鈥攇ossipy, poetic prophetic, full of 鈥減iss and vinegar鈥 in the face of ravaging History. Among the characters you鈥檒l meet are the first female mayor of New York City, who uses a golem to get the job done (Ozick); and Paley鈥檚 activist single moms occupying Washington Square. You鈥檒l write short response papers and imitations; longer mid-term and final essays; and along the way you鈥檒l present your own and collaborative work in conferences organized by the class.
Terms