Gertrude Stein and the Making of Jewish Modernism e-bog

Challenging the assumption that modernist writer Gertrude Stein seldom integrated her Jewish identity and heritage into her work, this book uncovers Steins constant and varied writing about Jewish topics throughout her career. Amy Feinstein argues that Judaism was central to Steins ideas about modernity, showing how Stein connects the modernist era to the Jewish experience. Combing through Steins scholastic writings, drafting notebooks, and literary works, Feinstein analyzes references to Judaism that have puzzled scholars. She reveals the never-before-discussed influence of Matthew Arnold as well as a hidden Jewish framework in Steins epic novelThe Making of Americans. In Steins experimental voices poems, Feinstein identifies an explicitly Jewish vocabulary that expresses themes of marriage, nationalism, and Zionism. She also shows howWars I Have Seen, written in Vichy France during World War II, compares the experience of wartime occupation with the historic persecution of Jews. Affirming the importance of Jewish identity and modernist style to Gertrude Steins legacy as a writer, this book radically changes the way we read and appreciate Steins work.