Mishnaic modernisms: Gertrude Stein’s The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family’s Progress as a work of modernist Jewish feminism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Either by default or design, studies of literary modernism seemingly remain indifferent and at times antagonistic toward religious principles and practices, particularly in discussions of women’s writings. In this essay, I seek to bridge the gap between modernism and religious studies by conducting a close textual study of Gertrude Stein’s, The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family’s Progress (TMOA). Conducting close, comparative readings and analysis of Stein’s novel to tractates of the ancient Judaic text, the Mishnah, overlapping and intersecting themes and topics, as well as language mechanics and structures, are revealed. I propose that in TMOA, Stein composes from a Modernist Jewish Feminist perspective based in her own history and heritage. Engaging with her multiple positions of subjectivity, as a Jewish, American, woman, in TMOA, Stein develops female character types that challenge and advance contemporary discourse on gender constructs.