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Feeling Jewish:
In this sparkling debut, a young critic offers an original, passionate, and erudite account of what it means to feel Jewish—even when you’re not.
Self-hatred. Guilt. Resentment. Paranoia. Hysteria. Overbearing Mother-Love. In this witty, insightful, and poignant book, Devorah Baum delves into fiction, film, memoir, and psychoanalysis to present a dazzlingly original exploration of a series of feelings famously associated with modern Jews. Reflecting on why Jews have so often been depicted, both by others and by themselves, as prone to “negative” feelings, she queries how negative these feelings really are. And as the pace of globalization leaves countless people feeling more marginalized, uprooted, and existentially threatened, she argues that such “Jewish” feelings are becoming increasingly common to us all.
Ranging from Franz Kafka to Philip Roth, Sarah Bernhardt to Woody Allen, Anne Frank to Nathan Englander, Feeling Jewish bridges the usual fault lines between left and right, insider and outsider, Jew and Gentile, and even Semite and anti-Semite, to offer an indispensable guide for our divisive times.
Self-hatred. Guilt. Resentment. Paranoia. Hysteria. Overbearing Mother-Love. In this witty, insightful, and poignant book, Devorah Baum delves into fiction, film, memoir, and psychoanalysis to present a dazzlingly original exploration of a series of feelings famously associated with modern Jews. Reflecting on why Jews have so often been depicted, both by others and by themselves, as prone to “negative” feelings, she queries how negative these feelings really are. And as the pace of globalization leaves countless people feeling more marginalized, uprooted, and existentially threatened, she argues that such “Jewish” feelings are becoming increasingly common to us all.
Ranging from Franz Kafka to Philip Roth, Sarah Bernhardt to Woody Allen, Anne Frank to Nathan Englander, Feeling Jewish bridges the usual fault lines between left and right, insider and outsider, Jew and Gentile, and even Semite and anti-Semite, to offer an indispensable guide for our divisive times.
296 pages, Hardcover
Published August 22, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 30, 2017
I received a free e-book copy of this title from NetGalley. The opinions are my own.
I will admit: I read the first two chapters, didn't feel hooked and skimmed the rest. Unfortunately, the title & the blurb misrepresent the contents. I hoped for something more akin to a memoir, but this is a semi- academic book in the field of cultural studies - I would say that mostly it's a very academic book which tries to go informal from time to time. Yes, some parts appear quite interesting but this isn't really something I want to go in-depth on. I'm sure there are readers for whom this book will be just right, but I am not one of them.
I will admit: I read the first two chapters, didn't feel hooked and skimmed the rest. Unfortunately, the title & the blurb misrepresent the contents. I hoped for something more akin to a memoir, but this is a semi- academic book in the field of cultural studies - I would say that mostly it's a very academic book which tries to go informal from time to time. Yes, some parts appear quite interesting but this isn't really something I want to go in-depth on. I'm sure there are readers for whom this book will be just right, but I am not one of them.
February 20, 2018
Very insightful, sinuously written, just a really original analysis of feelings in our world today, using the Jewish example as a constant touchstone.
What the author does here is quietly radical. She shows how feelings are the one thing that cross-cut all these very intensely opposed political positions that seem to divide us these days. Both 'we' and those we're positioned against share, if nothing else, our negative feelings about each other. And there is a kind of hope in that, a place to begin.
So for example the chapter on paranoid feelings is amazing, how it shows that mirroring taking place for us politically these days. The chapter on self-hatred is all about how we take those divisions into our deepest selves without realising it, and end up living in splitness. There's a lot here that's really strong on the female experience as well, the chapter on being 'over the top' or hysterical is kind of a standalone masterpiece, bringing together the figure of 'the madwoman in the Attic' with Anne Frank and our contemporary hysteria. The "mother love" chapter is knowing and quietly feisty yet much more sophisticated and ambivalent than much recent feminist crit.
Tone - some distinctly demanding passages - in parts it's a scholarly treatise, and a classy one, in other parts it's more personal and approachable. The blend is justified because of the subject: feelings. It won't be for lay readers but for people with some bg in lit crit and theory it's something really special.
What the author does here is quietly radical. She shows how feelings are the one thing that cross-cut all these very intensely opposed political positions that seem to divide us these days. Both 'we' and those we're positioned against share, if nothing else, our negative feelings about each other. And there is a kind of hope in that, a place to begin.
So for example the chapter on paranoid feelings is amazing, how it shows that mirroring taking place for us politically these days. The chapter on self-hatred is all about how we take those divisions into our deepest selves without realising it, and end up living in splitness. There's a lot here that's really strong on the female experience as well, the chapter on being 'over the top' or hysterical is kind of a standalone masterpiece, bringing together the figure of 'the madwoman in the Attic' with Anne Frank and our contemporary hysteria. The "mother love" chapter is knowing and quietly feisty yet much more sophisticated and ambivalent than much recent feminist crit.
Tone - some distinctly demanding passages - in parts it's a scholarly treatise, and a classy one, in other parts it's more personal and approachable. The blend is justified because of the subject: feelings. It won't be for lay readers but for people with some bg in lit crit and theory it's something really special.
February 20, 2018
It is difficult to summarise this extraordinary, richly textured book. As I was reading it, I laughed out loud several times - the author goes from comic observation to philosophical enquiry so cleanly, via the byways of popular culture and literary theory ( Philip Roth, Jackie Mason, Woody Allen, Julia Kristeva, Rachel Cusk, the concepts of doubt, guilt and the film Single White Female all get the same incisive treatment ). I found it exhilarating, and moreish, and I don't normally read books like this.
July 18, 2018
This is a fascinating book about a subject that many people are hesitant to talk about. It requires some concentration to follow all of Baum's points, but is it a worthwhile and thought-provoking read. Highly recommend!
July 29, 2023
Very negative with no clear message. Do not recommend it.
December 26, 2023
Unreadable
June 9, 2024
Just wasn’t very good
January 27, 2021
Loved this. Writing the review some time after finishing it, but I remember that feeling of coming home (despite being, as far as I know, not Jewish at all.) It's such an original idea for a book, aimed at Jews and non-Jews alike. Relevant to all discussions of identity and belonging. Also a joy to read.
May 5, 2018
The author writes that this is "a book for just about anyone " but my main issue is that it wasn't. There was nothing wrong with the research and writing but it never grabbed me. Maybe it's because I'm not Jewish, so the literary examples of "Jewish" feelings (per the author) like guilt and self- loathing didn't resonate. At the least I learned about a few new books to check out.
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June 1, 2018305.8924 B3471 2017
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews