Tangled: Relations Between Jewish American and Postcolonial Literature

Abstract

[...] It seems that since the arrival of the first Jews and decades of struggling with assimilation, Jewish peoples have now well established themselves within the mainstream of American life, yet still feel alienated from that American life. Literature is an important vehicle in expressing such feelings and therefore Jewish American literature often deals with ‘the Jewish American experience’. Themes such as exile, displacement and finding your voice in a new language are not uncommon. As it happens, these themes are also characteristic for most postcolonial literatures. In fact, while reading postcolonial literature and Jewish American literature, I found similarities that made me question how the two relate to each other. Jewish American literature is a well-established literature in the United States and a part of the literary canon, but still I would like to find out if in any way, it can benefit from making links with postcolonial literature, or the other way around.