Post-Jewish?: Theorizing the Emergence of Jewishness in Canadian Television

Abstract

This essay examines representations of Jewishness in three recent Canadian TV series—Less than Kind, Being Erica, and 18 to Life. In it, I consider that Canadian television has historically avoided depictions of Jewishness to differentiate itself from American television, and how the emergence of Jews/Jewishness in Canadian television signals a post-Jewish turn. Through the study of these texts, and an examination of literatures on ethnicity, nation, and television, I begin to articulate a theory about Jewishness in contemporary Canadian television that does not rely too heavily on comparisons with the United States but also recognizes our intimate connection and deep debt to that nation’s televisual and scholarly traditions.