EGL 404 - Sr. Seminar (Fall): Contemporary Jewish Writing

Course Units: 1

(Fall; Lewin) Today two groups of Jews make up the Jewish majority in the world: half in Israel and half in the US. The contemporary literature of these two “communities” (though varied within themselves, to be sure) will be the focus of this course. Fiction from Israel is being translated for an English-speaking readership - written by whom, on what subjects, with what political motivations? Similarly, what are the concerns of US writers of fiction identified as “Jewish”? How might they complement or contrast with Israeli concerns? Several genres will be represented; short story collections are particularly popular right now. If students are interested, we may read both American and Israeli graphic novels as well.

Topics: British Mandate Palestine and the founding of Israel, Leaving orthodoxy, Jewish homosexuality, Non-European (Sephardi, Mizrahi) Jews in Israel or America, Americans in Israel, Israelis writing in English, Russian-Jewish immigrant writers;

Genres: Jewish magical realism, sci-fi/speculative, award-winning short story collections, humor-memoir, graphic novels. CC: WS