Jonathan Boyarin Research Articles

Re-‘Femminising’ Diaspora: Contemporary Jewish Cultural Studies and Post-Zionism

This essay creates a conversation between diaspora theory, the New Jewish Cultural Studies, post-Zionism, and colonialism. In this conversation, I focus on Jonathan Boyarin and Daniel Boyarin's Powers of Diaspora (2002), new thinking about Josephus, the myth of Masada, and rabbinic Judaism in antiquity, and on Ephraim Nimni's collection The Challenge of Post-Zionism (2003). The essay discusses the question of gender in Zionist mythology. It also probes the question of what internal powers diaspora communities, in multicultural societies, should ideally possess; for example, should Jewish diaspora communities around the world possess internal legal powers?

The Corporeal Turn

The Corporeal Turn Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, University Professor, and Professor of Performance Studies, Affiliated Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies What has been called the "corporeal turn" in recent Jewish studies is provoking anxiety. If "Judaism's mind has been more interesting and more influential than Judaism's body," a distinction worthy of study in its own right, critics are calling for "a swing back to its more traditional mooring in the text (which, in any case, has often dealt with the body)." But those who took the corporeal turn never left the text behind. Rather, they brought a concern with the body to the text and found new ways to read and think about those texts. What troubles the critics would seem to lie elsewhere. Reviewing several books published in the 1990s, Hillel Halkin characterized the trend as "feminizing Jewish Studies," which he did not intend as a compliment.1 The problem was not that their authors ignored the text.2 Rather, it was the way they read the texts; their approach was marked, in his view, by "postmodern thinking," skepticism, a "non- to anti-Zionist" stance, an affirmation of "Diaspora Jewish identity," and above all an open embrace of feminism and feminist theory (and, though he does not say so in so many words, a preoccupation with sexuality and homosexuality). Non-Orthodox Jewish America is, in his view, suffering from deep confusion, exacerbated (if not caused) by the "sexual revolution," and this kind of work just makes things worse. A firestorm ensued, fueled a few months later by Gabriel Schoenfeld's wholesale condemnation of "the voguish hybrid known as gender studies" in Holocaust scholarship.3 [End Page 447] Claiming that this trend "does not yet have a name," Halkin called it "the new Jewish scholarship." A year earlier, Jonathan Boyarin and Daniel Boyarin had announced "the new Jewish cultural studies," and a year later The Chronicle of Higher Education published its own assessment of "the new Jewish studies."4 In an endorsement for the Boyarins' book, Eric Santner defined the new Jewish cultural studies as work that brings "to bear recent innovations in the study of gender and sexuality on readings of canonical Jewish texts."5 While this may represent a corporeal turn in Jewish textual studies, it does not represent the full potential for a corporeal turn in Jewish studies more broadly conceived, a topic to which I will return. What is new in "the new Jewish cultural studies" is not only the concern with gender and sexuality (corporeality is not to be limited to these important topics in any case) but also the cultural turn in literary studies and the emergence of cultural studies.6 Text has not gone away. Rather, the corporeal turn has intensified interest in text and offered new ways to think about text as a social, corporeal, and material practice.7 [End Page 448] If anything, text is everything. So powerful a metaphor for culture has text become that anything usefully understood as text has become fair game for "reading," including film, performance, landscape, image, fashion, the city, and last but not least, the body—note that Daniel Boyarin's appointment at the University of California is in "Talmudic culture" and Carnal Israel is subtitled "reading sex in Talmudic culture" (emphasis added).8 Scholars speak of "writing the body." They speak of the body as "the inscribed surface of events."9 "Socially inscribed," the body "becomes the text that is written upon it."10 But, as Elliot Wolfson has demonstrated so eruditely in Circle in the Square: Studies in the Use of Gender in Kabbalistic Symbolism, the textualization of the body and embodiment of text are not new Jewish preoccupations. The people of the book are also the people of the body, to paraphrase Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, an early contributor to the new Jewish cultural studies, and, as even canonical Jewish texts amply demonstrate, the body is not only good to think about, it is also good to think with.11 Has an interest in the body lessened the "textualist" emphasis in Jewish studies? No. But it has altered "its traditional mooring in the text" by changing where and how scholars are...

The Abuses of Memory: Reflections on the Memory Boom in Anthropology

In recent years, studies of memory have blossomed in the humanities. (Klein 2000, Radstone 2000, Zelizer 1995) 2 In anthropology in particular, a vast number of scholars are currently occupied with research about memory. (Candau 1998, Climo and Cattell 2002, Olick and Robbins 1998) The list of contributions in this recent field of research is too voluminous to even begin to report. In every new anthropological publication, there is another article about social, cultural or material memory. Anthropology of Memory has become a respected course of many American and European University programs, something that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. Also, conferences and workshops are being organized with a special focus on memory issues, something that would also have been unthinkable 20 years ago.3 However, they are many unsettled areas in the field of memory studies. Historians have indeed begun warning us against the "terminological profusion" and the "semantic overload" of the notion (Kansteiner 2002, Klein 2000). Gillis observes that "memory seems to be losing precise meaning in proportion to its growing rhetorical power" (Gillis 1984: 3). As historian Jay Winter cogently writes, [End Page 197] "The only fixed point is the near ubiquity of the term [memory]. Just as we use words like love and hate without ever knowing their full or shared significance, so are we bound to go on using the term "memory," the historical signature of our generation" . (Winter 2000: 13) From the idea that "a society or a culture can remember and forget" (Are not only individuals capable of remembering?)4 to the widely used notion of "vicarious memory"5 and the questionable validity of the notion of memory in approaching certain trans-culturalcontexts,6 a broad range of fundamental epistemological issues are still to be raised with regard to memory. The point that I would like to emphasize here concerns the "danger of overextension" of the concept. A concept losing precise meaning, memory can also be approached as an expansive notion. For Gedi and Elam, "'collective memory' has become the all-pervading concept which in effect stands for all sorts of human cognitive products generally" (Gedi & Elam 1996: 40). In particular, historians have already underscored the risks of entanglement of memory and identity (Gillis 1994, Megill 1998). Some anthropologists, too, started expressing concerns about the "dangers of overextension that are inherent in the current boom of memory" (Fabian 1999: 51). For Fabian, the "concept of memory may become indistinguishable from either identity or culture" (ibid: 51). Jonathan Boyarin concurs, noting that "identity and memory are virtually the same" (Boyarin 1994: 23). In this essay, I contend that the current usage of the notion by anthropologists can be a source of confusion as it tends to encompass many features of the notion of culture itself. I argue that this process of conceptual extension leading to the entanglement of memory and culture merits careful scrutiny as it tells us a great deal about the anthropological project. Needless to say, I will raise many questions and give very few answers. This piece should be taken as an epistemological challenge rather than a pessimistic reproach. Memory in Anthropology: a Historical Perspective It is unfortunate that there has not been yet a history, a genealogy of the concept of memory in anthropology, whereas the ongoing obsession with memory in the humanities has been abundantly documented. In a powerful article, Klein reminds us that [End Page 198] "Memory grew incredibly marginal, and in 1964 The Dictionary of the Social Sciences claimed that the word verged on extinction [...] The 1968 Edition of the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences declined to define memory at all, despite the luxury of stretching its contents out for 7 volumes. By 1976 [...] Raymond Williams's classic study, Keywords, [...] ignored memory. [...] Little more that two decades separate memory's virtual disappearance and triumphal return" . (Klein 2000: 131) To explain this triumphal return, historian Jay Winter has shown that there...

Century of Genocide: Eyewitness Accounts and Critical Reviews (review)

Book Reviews .> ;'. ~t. 125 Along with Howe's own words, it should be the place from which future work on Irving Howe begins. Alexander Bloom Professor of American History Wheaton College Century ofGenocide: Eyewitness Accounts and Critical Reviews, edited by Samuel Totten, William S. Parsons, and Israel W. Charny. New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1997. 488 pp. $24.95. This edited volume comprises brief analyses and overviews including pertinent eyewitness accounts offourteen cases ofgenocide and mass destruction. Israel W. Charny, Executive Director of the Jerusalem-based Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide, wrote the Foreword, while Samuel Totten, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and William S. Parsons, Chief of Staff for the United States HolocaustMemorial Museum, wrote the Introduction. Charny, Totten, and Parsons are scholars and veteran activists. For over a decade they have made significant contributions to the literature on the understanding and prevention of genocide. Among the contributors and their topics are Jon Bridgman and Leslie J. Worley on the Hereros of South West Africa (1904), Rouben P. Adalian on the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923), James P. Mace on mass starvation in the Ukraine during the Stalinist collectivization period (1932-1933), Lyman H. Legters on the deportation and destruction ofsoviet nationalities, Donald L. Niewyk on the Holocaust ofthe" European Jews (1933-1945), Sybil Milton on the Holocaust ofthe Gypsies (1933-1945), Hugh Gregory Gallagher on the Nazi "euthanasia" campaign against disabled persons (19391945 ), Robert Cribb on the Indonesian massacres (1965-1966), Ben Kiernan on Cambodia (1975-1979), Robert K. Hitchcock and Tara M. Twedt on the physical and cultural destruction of indigenous peoples, and Steven L. Burg, in an Afterword on Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the link between genocide and ethnic war. The scholarly and analytical contributions vary in scope and quality, as might be expected from an edited volume; nevertheless, for the most part they are informative and of high quality. Moreover, acting on their stated moral commitment to define genocide widely, the editors have included instances such as killing ofthe Hereros, the deportations ofSoviet nationalities, and the destruction of indigenous peoples that are often left out of discussions on genocide. The intent of this volume is not to make spurious equation between instances ofgenocide where millions died and others where fewer perished. The explicit aim is to stretch the borders of our understanding of 126 SHOFAR Winter 2000 Vol. 18, NO.2 genocide and ofour empathy for its victims. Besides the broad scope ofthe cases, what distinguishes this edited volume from some other recent contributions is the inclusion of eyewitness testimonies. This gives each case an immediacy and credibility that the scholarly analysis alone cannot match. In that sense the volume reaches beyond the narrow confines ofthe scholarly community to a wider community ofreaders, including students. Had there been a more extensive discussion ofthe analytic meaning ofterms, this volume could have made a stronger contribution to the scholarly and legal literature on genocide, but that was not its intent. Although comparative studies ofthe perpetrators of genocide and their motives do exist, there are precious few studies that include eyewitness accounts ofthe victims. For their discerning selections of case studies and for including eyewitness accounts of victims and bystanders we should be grateful to the editors. Robert Melson Department of Political Science Purdue University From a Ruined Garden: The Memorial Books ofPolish Jewry, edited and translated by Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan Boyarin. 2nd expanded ed., with geographical index and bibliography by Zachary M. Baker. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1998. 353 pp. $39.95 (c); $17.95 (p). Rarely is a book published that causes an entirely new genre ofstudies to open up. This, however, was the result ofthe remarkably fortunate publication by Schocken Books of the first edition in 1983 of From a Ruined Garden. Before 1983, some scholars, librarians, and genealogical researchers certainly knew about yizker bikher in general, but up to that time there had not been a major focus on these books as social, historical, and genealogical sources offirsthand knowledge about destroyed communities, to some extent because of language barriers. But as more lay persons began searching...

From a Ruined Garden: The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry (review)

126 SHOFAR Winter 2000 Vol. 18, NO.2 genocide and ofour empathy for its victims. Besides the broad scope ofthe cases, what distinguishes this edited volume from some other recent contributions is the inclusion of eyewitness testimonies. This gives each case an immediacy and credibility that the scholarly analysis alone cannot match. In that sense the volume reaches beyond the narrow confines ofthe scholarly community to a wider community ofreaders, including students. Had there been a more extensive discussion ofthe analytic meaning ofterms, this volume could have made a stronger contribution to the scholarly and legal literature on genocide, but that was not its intent. Although comparative studies ofthe perpetrators of genocide and their motives do exist, there are precious few studies that include eyewitness accounts ofthe victims. For their discerning selections of case studies and for including eyewitness accounts of victims and bystanders we should be grateful to the editors. Robert Melson Department of Political Science Purdue University From a Ruined Garden: The Memorial Books ofPolish Jewry, edited and translated by Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan Boyarin. 2nd expanded ed., with geographical index and bibliography by Zachary M. Baker. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1998. 353 pp. $39.95 (c); $17.95 (p). Rarely is a book published that causes an entirely new genre ofstudies to open up. This, however, was the result ofthe remarkably fortunate publication by Schocken Books of the first edition in 1983 of From a Ruined Garden. Before 1983, some scholars, librarians, and genealogical researchers certainly knew about yizker bikher in general, but up to that time there had not been a major focus on these books as social, historical, and genealogical sources offirsthand knowledge about destroyed communities, to some extent because of language barriers. But as more lay persons began searching for their "roots" in the late 1970s, with interest building in the 1980s and exploding in the 1990s, they started to tap into these remarkable books. The publication of From a Ruined Garden, containing over 70 translated excerpts from Polish yizkor books, illuminated for many lay persons the lost world depicted in these books from which they had been cut offbecause they could not read them in their original languages, primarily Yiddish and Hebrew. The first edition has long been out of print, but again, in another bit of fortunate timing, a second, expanded edition has been published. Book Reviews 127 The 1998 edition contains four new chapters and a revised bibliography by Zachary Baker, the head librarian at the VIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Most genealogists researchingyizker bikher cut their teeth on earlier versions ofthis bibliography and will be grateful for the update. This extensive bibliography, along with the geographical index and gazetteer, make this book an indispensable source of information on Eastern European communities. The introduction, written by Kugelmass and Boyarin, is a judicious, learned, and sensitive analysis oftheyizker bukh genre. The editors, both ethnographers, view these books from a unique perspective and perfectly balance analysis with sensitivity. Their insight into the social, cultural, and political organizations ofthe shtetls adds great depth to their interpretation of life in these now annihilated communities. They convincingly explain the importance of these books as acts of commemorating the dead by the survivors. Their translated selections are "unique historical documents that offer English readers glimpses into a previously locked storehouse of information on the traditions and transformations that marked everyday life in the shtetl." The editors vividly describe the role of the landsmanschaftn in settling on the writing of a yizkor book as a way of commemorating the death of their shtetl and the deaths oftheir friends and landsleit. Not having physical graves, the dead would have paper graves.l But while performing a holy duty as "guardians of memory," the editorial committees organizing the writing of these books by the survivors and emigres of the shtetl could not avoid factional disputes. Not shirking from describing the nasty political fights that arose during the planning stages of these books, the editors nevertheless manage to bring some light humor and whimsy into the discussion. Many ofthe landsmanschaftn that sponsored memorial books were oriented toward the Zionist and non...

Edward W. Said's Presidency

There are times when even decision about whether to renew membership in large professional organization turns into question of conscience. With the scheduled accession of Edward W. Said to the presidency of the Modem Language Association on 1 January 1999, regret that must resign from the association as of 31 December 1998. The president of the MLA publicly and officially represents the organization. believe that such representative should have displayed regularly only distinction in critical scholarship but also dignity in the public treatment of others. Edward professional work has extensively influenced several fields of literary study. But his public assaults against individuals whose views reasonably differ from his own deeply violate fundamental values repeatedly professed by the MLA. At times such assaults have passed beyond the forms of disparagement that often compromise contemporary academic disputes. They have passed into acts of aggressive contempt and blatant dehumanization. The variety of disturbing cases includes an exchange many years ago with several members of the MLA (An Exchange on Edward Said and Difference, Critical Inquirv 15 [1989]: 611-46). In detailed article, one scholar argued that greater accuracy and breadth of information would noticeably revise claims about the Middle East (Robert J. Griffin, Ideology and Misrepresentation: A Response to Edward Said). In his reply (Response), Said tried to discredit alternately the author's sanity, his scholarship, and his humanity. His solemn idiocies, cried Said, inhabit semideranged world entirely his own. This scholar-if that is what he is, scoffed Saidis only, to the best of my knowledge, the author of two (or is it three?) below-average articles on Dr. Johnson. I surmise, Said postured, that is actually 'Griffin,' an ideological simulacrum; it could be asked he is being. Perhaps even more than the original critique, reaction exposed some of the stark deficiencies of his own claims, including his profession to speak for the cause of humane behavior. In the same exchange, when two other members of the MLA appealed for dialogue (Daniel Boyarin and Jonathan Boyarin, Toward Dialogue with Edward Said), Said replied with modified form of derision. When another scholar (Geoffrey Hartman) later protested effort to dehumanize the original critic, Said referred again to his doubt about whether Robert Griffin was human being. As for Hartman's perspective, Said sought to degrade it as patronizing and hypocritical self-congratulation that was tasteless and jejune but not surprising (Editorial Note, Critical Inquiry 16 [1989]: 199-200). Such assaults of course are no less offensive when applied to individuals outside the MLA, such as prominent intellectual (Michael Walzer) whom Said tried to demean as small frightened man (Walzer and Said, Exchange: 'Exodus and Revolution,' Grand Street 5 [1986]: 246-59). The attacks repeatedly flaunt the twists of mind that underlie them. Unlike the serious opponent he had made him up to be, Said sneered, the 'real' was good deal worse than the fiction created. But Said concealed the fact that he himself fabricated this supposedly 'real' Walzer. He clearly venerates nasty wave of Ayatollahs, exploded Said, who accused him of supporting several attitudes toward Israel opposed by Walzer himself. A figure of characteristic idiocy, concluded Said. It should be stressed that Edward Said does confine his insults to Jewish intellectuals with whom he disagrees. He has scorned Fouad Ajami as a mediocre scholar; Samir al-Khalil broadly seems quite incapable of argument, scholarship, or rational exchange; Afsaneh Najmabadi expresses wacky or puerile views (Najmabadi, Said's War on the Intellectuals, with reply, Middle East Report Nov.-Dec. 1991: 2+). Still, he reserves special aspersions for individuals he attempts to discredit by association with Israel. He has concocted the accusation that renowned scholar (Bernard Lewis) seems to advocate expelling Palestinian Arabs (Said and Lewis, in Orientalism: An Exchange, New York Review of Books 12 Aug. 1982: 44-48). The more reflective the critique of his views, the more enraged his reaction. When confronted with his insults (like those quoted in this letter), he cries that his own integrity is being impugned. The repugnant language of the incoming spokesman of the Modem Language Association cannot be excused by the claim that the cause for which he speaks grants him special license for abuse. Others with urgent causes of their own have persisted in seeking language of civil exchange under severely trying conditions. Nor is the need for such language merely point of etiquette; it is principle of ethics, the obligation to engage even adversaries as beings with capacity for understanding. Yet to my knowledge Edward Said has never repudiated the derogatory expressions to which have referred. Will he inform his colleagues in the MLA if he still endorses those expressions? To choose to remain in professional organization, of course, does necessarily imply agreeing with every position taken by its members or its president. In this case,

Remapping Memory: The Politics of Timespace. Edited by Jonathan Boyarin Afterword by Charles Tilly. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. $44.95 (cloth); $18.95 (paper).

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Caught in Webs of Paradox

176 SHOFAR Fall 1995 Vol. 14, No.1 otherness, and Jonathan Boyarin's discussion exposing the ways European Jewish forms of otherness are occluded by cultural-historical interpretive frames like "assimilation," "annihilation," and the formation of a Jewish state, all dismantle simplified notions of cultural identity and Jews' Others and re-orient readers towards the exciting symbolic junctures at which a variety of constructions of identity and otherness arise. Caught in Webs of Paradox by lauren B. Granite Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies University of Maryland at College Park Educated and Ignorant: Ultraorthodox Jewish Women and Their World, by Tamar £l-Or, translated by Haim Watzman. Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994. 227 pp. $17.95. The thesis ofTamar £l-Or's provocative book, Educated andIgnorant: Ultraortbodoxjewisb Women and Their World, is that baredi women are educated for ignorance. Through several means-formal schooling, attendance at baredi colleges as young women, and classes held in their communities once they are married-baredi women are educated towards the goal of being pious like their mothers and grandmothers who, of course, were not formally educated at all. According to EI-Or, this central paradox reflects the multiple paradoxes characteristic of baredi society in Israel. The place of women's education in baredi society, the attitudes towards that education, and the structure of it (e.g., the format of learning, what is being taught) are all reflections of the paradoxical reality of ultraorthodox life in the modern world. While baredim reject the secular modern world, they are products of it and, particularly in Israel, economically dependent on it. In addition, the way in which baredim draw and perceive social boundaries between Gentiles and Jews, religious and secular people, themselves and other baredim, and men and women reveal the depth of this central paradox and their inability to resolve it. Review Essays 177 El-Or conducted her field research among women in a Gur hasidic development in Israel. This book is thought-provoking, yet there are two basic levels on which El-Or undermines her field research. The first is that she overuses and under-defines many of her key terms. Perhaps some of the fault lies in the translation, done by Haim Watzman, but on several occasions I found myself questioning precisely what she meant by "literacy," "paradox," "educated," and "ignorant." For example, despite her discussion of the theoretical literature on literacy, her loose use of this term makes it unclear as to what type of literacy she is referring to. She mentions the schooling that baredi women get (both religious and secular), the classes they take after their formal schooling has ended (only on Jewish subjects), and the fact that they read newspapers and even fiction sometimes, but she scatters this information throughout the book and does not present a coherent picture of her informants' level of literacy in any area. In one place, El-Or supports her claim that the women she spoke with are "highly literate" with the comment that they are "aware of what is going on around them inside their community and outside it as well" (p. 132). This may indicate an important level of consciousness in their lives, but it is not literacy. Similarly, "educated" and "ignorant" become blurry as they are constantly played off one another without being clearly defined. The other way in which El-Or undermines her field work manifests itself in her methodology and presentation. In short, she does not take her informants seriously as actors in their own lives. This is not obvious; indeed, El-Or goes to great pains not to offend the Gur hasidic women she wants to learn about, and she clearly demonstrates empathy towards their sensibilities of modesty when she writes that she "developed a strong antipathy to deliberately exposing private matters, such as the relations between wife and husband and between women and their bodies" (p.7). However, she imposes theoretical categories on her informants which do not allow for nuance (e.g., "educated" and "ignorant"), provides only select field note or interview excerpts (Le., direct quotes of the women themselves talking), and judges her informants by traditionally "male" categories and standards. Each one of these...

Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory. Jonathan Boyarin

<i>Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory</i>. Jonathan Boyarin

The Ethnography of Reading. Jonathan Boyarin

<i>The Ethnography of Reading</i>. Jonathan Boyarin

The Emancipation of the Jews of Alsace: Acculturation and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Paula E. HymanPolish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory. Jonathan Boyarin , Paula Hyman , Deborah Dash Moore

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook Reviews. Paula E. Hyman The Emancipation of the Jews of Alsace: Acculturation and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Paula E. Hyman Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory. Jonathan Boyarin , Paula Hyman , Deborah Dash Moore Marsha L. RozenblitMarsha L. Rozenblit Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 66, Number 3Sep., 1994 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/244908 Copyright 1994 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding. GEORGE C. ROSENWALD and RICHARD L. OCHBERG, eds

American EthnologistVolume 21, Issue 2 p. 428-429 Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding. GEORGE C. ROSENWALD and RICHARD L. OCHBERG, eds JONATHAN BOYARIN, JONATHAN BOYARIN New School for Social ResearchSearch for more papers by this author JONATHAN BOYARIN, JONATHAN BOYARIN New School for Social ResearchSearch for more papers by this author First published: May 1994 https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1994.21.2.02a00200AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume21, Issue2May 1994Pages 428-429 RelatedInformation

Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory. JONATHAN BOYARIN

Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory. JONATHAN BOYARIN

Diaspora: Generation and the Ground of Jewish Identity

Some of the material in this paper is taken from the final chapter of Daniel Boyarin's forthcoming book, A Radical Jew: Paul and the Politics of Identity. Other material is from Jonathan Boyarin's "Der Yiddisher Tsenter; or What Is a Minyan?" and Jonathan Boyarin and Greg Sarris, "Jews and Native Americans as Living Voice and Absent Other," presented at the MLA convention, December 1991. We wish to thank Harry Berger, Jr., Stephen Greenblatt, and Steven Knapp, none of whom necessarily agrees (and one of whom necessarily disagrees) with the claims being made but all of whom made vitally significant interventions. All biblical translations are our own.

: Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory . Jonathan Boyarin.

: Polish Jews in Paris: The Ethnography of Memory . Jonathan Boyarin.

American Indian Persistence and Resurgence

This collection celebrates the resurgence of Native Americans within the cultural landscape of the United States. During the past quarter century, the Native American population in the United States has seen an astonishing demographic growth reaching beyond all biological probability as increasing numbers of Americans desire to admit or to claim Native American ancestry. This volume illustrates a unique moment in history, as unprecedented numbers of Native Americans seek to create a powerful, flexible sense of cultural identity. Diverse commentators, including literary critics, anthropologists, ethnohistorians, poets and a novelist address persistent issues facing Native Americans and Native American studies today. The future of White-Indian relation, the viability of Pan-Indianism, tensions between Native Americans and North American anthropologists, and new devlopments in ethnohistory are among the topics discussed. The survival of Native Americans as recorded in this collection, an expanded edition of a special issue of boundary 2, brings into focus the dynamically adaptive values of Native American culture. Native Americans' persistence in U.S. culture-not disappearing under the pressure to assimilate or through genocidal warfare-reminds us of the extent to which any living culture is defined by the process of transformation. Contributors. Linda Ainsworth, Jonathan Boyarin, Raymomd J. DeMallie, Elaine Jahner, Karl Kroeber, William Overstreet, Douglas R. Parks, Katharine Pearce, Jarold Ramsey, Wendy Rose, Edward H. Spicer, Gerald Vizenor, Priscilla Wald

Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan Boyarin, translators and editors, From a Ruined Garden. The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry .

Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan Boyarin, translators and editors, <i>From a Ruined Garden. The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry</i> .

Book Reviews

Abstract Abstract From a Ruined Garden—the Memorial Book of Polish Jewry, translated and edited by Jack Kugelmass and Jonathan Boyarin, 275 pp. New York, Schocken Books, $18.95. The Five Scrolls. Trans. and ed. Herbert Bronstein and Albert H. Friedlander. New York: CCAR Press, 1984. xiv + 383 pp. $12.