Language:
English
Year of publication:
1991
Titel der Quelle:
Prospects; an Annual of American Cultural Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
16 (1991) 391-404
Keywords:
Lewisohn, Ludwig,
;
Jewish literature History and criticism
;
Antisemitism History 1500-
Abstract:
Examines how antisemitism and ideological disagreement virtually banished the Jewish American literary critic Ludwig Lewisohn (1882-1955) from the heritage of criticism. States that the antisemitism which prevented Lewisohn from receiving a university post in English literature caused him to uncover the lies regarding assimilation in the USA and to challenge American values. Lewisohn and his works were criticized by the Left, the mainly WASP professionals of American literary studies, the New Humanists, the Agrarians, etc. For example, Lewisohn's work "Expression in America" (1932) was seen as handicapped by his Jewishness; it was said that he could not fully appreciate American history or culture. The following generation of Jewish scholars disregarded Lewisohn because his vigilant Jewish identity was at odds with their desire to inhabit a cosmopolitan, secular world. For the most part, the scholarship of the 1960s onward ignored him.
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