Sprache:
Englisch
Erscheinungsjahr:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Prooftexts; a Journal of Jewish Literary History
Angaben zur Quelle:
18,3 (1998) 239-258
Schlagwort(e):
Miller, Arthur,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
;
Jews Identity
;
Autobiography Jewish authors
Kurzfassung:
Discusses Miller's reactions to the Holocaust as reflected in his 1987 autobiography "Timebends" and in his fiction and drama. Begins with his admitted (in "Timebends") failure to identify with survivors whom he briefly met in Europe. Places Miller in the unusual (for him) category of minority writer, clarifying his insecurity, since childhood, about his Jewish identity. Notes his basic tendency to universalize the Holocaust, i.e. to stress that we are all potentially guilty. Jewish stereotypes are shown to be central to his novel "Focus." In his play "Incident at Vichy, " a non-Jew sacrifices his life for that of a Jew. Only in his play "Broken Glass, " where the reference to the "Kristallnacht" pogrom is clear, does Miller more directly pose the question of Jewish identity in the century of the Holocaust.
URL:
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