Drawing on several archives, magazine articles, and nearly-forgotten bestsellers, Rachel Gordan examines how Jewish middlebrow literature helped to shape post-Holocaust American Jewish identity. Positive depictions of Jews in popular literature had a normalizing effect, while at the same time forging the notion of Judaism as an American religion distinct from Christianity but part of America's alleged 'Judeo-Christian' heritage.
Contents
Introduction: Popularizing Judaism -- 1. From Race to Religion and the Challenge of Antisemitism -- 2. The Roots of 1940s Anti-Antisemitism Fiction -- 3. When Women Made Anti-Antisemitism Fiction Popular -- 4. The Limits of Anti-Antisemitism Literature -- 5. How Basic Is Basic Judaism? -- 6. Philip Bernstein and the 1950s Religious Revival -- 7. Life's "Old-Fashioned Jews" -- 8. "Why I Choose to Be a Jew" -- Conclusion: After the Middlebrow Moment.
