Language:
Spanish
Year of publication:
1997
Titel der Quelle:
Judaica Latinoamericana; estudios histórico-sociales
Angaben zur Quelle:
3 (1997) 351-369
Keywords:
Isaacs, Jorge,
;
Crypto-Jews
;
Conversion in literature
Abstract:
Analyzes the racial and social issues reflected in Colombian writer Jorge Isaacs' novel "María" (1867). Efraín, the son of a Jamaican Sephardi Jew who converted and married a non-Jewish woman in Colombia and achieved social position as a landowner, wants to marry his cousin María, herself a converted Jewess. Efraín's father opposes the marriage for various reasons which, it is claimed, cover up the real motive: within the social-racial tensions between whites and blacks in Colombia, Efraín, while dark-skinned, had achieved legitimacy and wealth through religion and his non-Jewish mother's racial heritage. A marriage with a Jewess, albeit converted, would forfeit whatever chance he had of upward social mobility. Tragically, María dies but Efrain's family loses its fortune anyway.
Note:
In Hebrew:
,
"יהדות אמריקה הלטינית" (תשסא)
URL:
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