American Jewish Films: The Search for Identity

American Jewish Films: The Search for Identity

by Lawrence J. Epstein
American Jewish Films: The Search for Identity

American Jewish Films: The Search for Identity

by Lawrence J. Epstein

eBook

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Overview

This is a thematic survey of American films with significant Jewish content that made an important statement about America. Both familiar and lesser known films are included. An introduction discusses why American Jews were attracted to films as audiences, performers and business people, and evaluates how films help audiences think about their lives. The book then focuses on themes and representative and important films, placing them in their cultural contexts. One of the aspects of American Jewish life brought out by the films in general is the tensions between an American and a Jewish identity and between a Jewish identity and a broader human identity. Other themes are assimilation and acculturation, interfaith relations, Israel, marriage and family relations, the role of women, Jews and American politics, and anti-Semitism including the Holocaust.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781476601847
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date: 04/06/2013
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 224
File size: 5 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Lawrence J. Epstein has written extensively on the history of comedy teams and the influence of Jewish humor in America. From 1974 to 2008 he was a professor of English at Suffolk County Community College in New York.
Lawrence J. Epstein has written extensively on the history of comedy teams and the influence of Jewish humor in America. From 1974 to 2008 he was a professor of English at Suffolk County Community College in New York.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
One. What Is a Jewish Film?
Two. The Jewish Plymouth Rock: Films About the Lower East Side
Three. The Past Is Prologue: Films of Jewish History
Four. The Oldest Hatred: Anti-Semitism in Films
Five. The Invisible Jews: Films About Assimilation
Six. Assimilation with a Heart: Romance in American Jewish Films
Seven. The Borscht Belt Shtetl: Films About Jewish Resorts in the Catskills
Eight. Zion on the Screen: Films About Israel
Nine. The Dark Side: Jewish Criminals on Film
Ten. Faith on Film
Eleven. An American Jewish Identity
Chronology of Films
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

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