Language:
English
Year of publication:
1999
Titel der Quelle:
Neophilologus; an International Journal of Modern and Mediaeval Language and Literature
Angaben zur Quelle:
83,1 (1999) 33-49
Keywords:
Proust, Marcel,
;
Antisemitism in literature
Abstract:
Proust attempted to liberate himself from his ambivalence about his half-Jewish identity at a time of violent antisemitism that culminated in the Dreyfus Affair. In the published version of his masterpiece, his self-censorship, especially in relation to the Jewish mother figure, yields a more concealed and protective treatment of Judaism and the "Jewish question" than in his original drafts. Obfuscation of his protagonist's religious and ethnic identity in the published text leaves the reader in doubt about the cause of the reversal of his fate, his decline in social status. Study of Proust's notebooks for the novel reveals that his views about Jews reflected both philosemitic and antisemitic ideas.
DOI:
10.1023/A:1004313813982
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink