'Confounding closed systems': transforming the boundaries of jewish identity in Rebecca Goldstein's novel mazel

In contemporary Jewish American fiction, the themes of immigration and resettlement take on a renewed significance. In various short stories and novels, a threefold composition – (prewar) life in Europe, the transatlantic journey and settlement in America – serves as a starting point for the contemplation of postwar Jewish American identity. Rebecca Goldstein’s novel Mazel is an excellent example of this. The novel reconstructs the lives of three generations of women in a setting that covers both prewar Europe and postwar suburban America. It portrays the complex mother-daughter relationships and depicts the different worlds that each woman inhabits – worlds that are unknown to the others. But this novel also deals with the notions of origin, belonging and not belonging, the possible continuity of tradition, and different definitions of Jewish identity. This essay suggests that Goldstein portrays a constant struggle with ethnic or communal identity – a struggle structured around inclusiveness and exclusiveness – that results in a broadening of the concept of Jewish identity. The novel attains this by challenging and undermining fixed or predetermined ideas and dichotomies (man/woman, shtetl/outside world, tradition/modernity, Europe/America, past/present, descent/consent). Instead, Mazel eventually offers the idea of a more hybrid and flexible definition of Jewish identity that favors the fusion of a strong communal identity with the possibility of multiple affiliations. These ideas are specifically rendered through the character of Fraydel, the sister of one of the main protagonists

Emerson (Everett). The authentic Mark Twain : a literary biography of Samuel L. Clemens

Buelens Jo. Emerson (Everett). The Authentic Mark Twain : A Literary Biography of Samuel L. Clemens.. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 64, fasc. 3, 1986. Langues et littératures modernes - Moderne taal- en letterkunde. pp. 632-633

Newton (Ken M.). Interpreting the text : a critical introduction to the theory and practice of literary interpretation

Buelens Gert. Newton (Ken M.). Interpreting the Text : A Critical Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Literary Interpretation. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 70, fasc. 3, 1992. Langues et littératures modernes — Moderne taal- en letterkunde. pp. 749-750

Selden (Raman). A reader's guide to contemporary literary theory

Buelens Gert. Selden (Raman). A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 70, fasc. 3, 1992. Langues et littératures modernes — Moderne taal- en letterkunde. pp. 758-759

Authorship as cultural performance: new perspectives in authorship studies

This article proposes a performative model of authorship, based on the historical alternation between predominantly 'weak' and 'strong' author concepts and related practices of writing, publication and reading. Based on this model, we give a brief overview of the historical development of such author concepts in English literature from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. We argue for a more holistic approach to authorship within a cultural topography, comprising social contexts, technological and media factors, and other cultural developments, such as the distinction between privacy and the public sphere