Stranger in Our Midst: Images of the Jews in Polish Literature

Abstract

This chapter explores Stranger in our Midst, a book examining Jewish characters and topics in Polish literature. It is an anthology which tries to give a balanced picture by including works both sympathetic and hostile to Jews. The chapter considers whether or not it succeeds in that endeavour. In creating such an anthology an editor has two choices: either to attempt a diachronic cross-section through each literary period, a complicated historical–literary procedure requiring thorough research into both literature and its social and other backgrounds, or else to reconstruct a comprehensive contemporary image based on the literary canon and including the most important works and authors, as found in standard literary histories and in school reading lists. Harold B. Segel follows neither of these strategies and his selection appears largely accidental.