The Loss of Self and Identity Crisis in Jewish American Literature: The Case of Bernard Malamud’s The German Refugee

Abstract

The search for identity and self-identity problems have been one of the pivotal themes for Jewish American authors. Prominent writers such as Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow and Philip Roth explore American Jewish identity and address the questions of assimilation, the hardship of immigrant life, challenges of cultural acceptance, and finding purpose in life. In particular they are concerned with the self-identification and alienation of American Jewry. The given paper examines the problems of personality crisis and loss of identity portrayed in Bernard Malamud’s story “The German Refugee”. The psychological aspects of the main character’s personality are investigated, an attempt is made to analyze the factors that determined the crisis, which ultimately led him to suicide. The author also touches upon the topic of the post-Holocaust consciousness in Jewish American literature. Despite the fact that Malamud did not address the Holocaust theme in his works directly, he, like many post-war American fiction writers, was deeply impacted by it. The importance of Malamud's writing for Holocaust literature lies in his realistic portrayal of how the Shoah continues to affect survivors, refugees and those Jews who were not physically affected by it.