The passing game : queering Jewish American culture /
Tony Kushner's award-winning epic play Angels in America was remarkable not only for its sensitive engagement of Jewish- American and gay culture but also for bringing these themes to a mainstream audience. While the play represented a watershed in American theater and culture, it belies a hund...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Syracuse, N.Y. :
Syracuse University Press,
2009.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Series: | Judaic traditions in literature, music, and art.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Table of contents |
| Summary: | Tony Kushner's award-winning epic play Angels in America was remarkable not only for its sensitive engagement of Jewish- American and gay culture but also for bringing these themes to a mainstream audience. While the play represented a watershed in American theater and culture, it belies a hundred years of previous attention to queer Jewish identity in twentieth-century American literature, drama, and film. Sheds light on this long history, taking up both Yiddish and English narratives that explore the tensions among Jewish identity, queer sexuality, performance, and American citizenship. Examines the 1907 Yiddish play God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch, the cross-dressing films of Yiddish actress Molly Picon, and several short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Analyzes the English-language novels The Rise of David Levinsky (Abraham Cahan), Wasteland (Jo Sinclair), and Portnoy's Complaint (Phillip Roth). Highlights the ways in which the characters in these canonical texts attempt to pass as white, straight, and American in the early and mid-twentieth century. From publisher description. |
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| Item Description: | The Cushing Library/Women & Gender Studies copy was acquired as part of The Don Kelly Research Collection of Gay Literature and Culture. |
| Physical Description: | xi, 206 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-190) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780815632023 0815632029 |