An exploration of Jewish writing in early twentieth-century America, focusing on the “life story” as a preferred form of fiction for Jewish-American writers. How do these texts address the problem of becoming American? Are there certain conventions that mark the “typical” life story? How do some of these texts play with or critique those conventions? We will also consider what might be called the dilemma of modernity in these works: how do they address the anxieties associated with modern life?

Texts:

• Selections from Hamilton Holt, The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans, as Told by Themselves
• Gertrude Stein, Three Lives
• Mary Antin, Promised Land
• Abraham Cahan, The Rise of David Levinsky
• Anzia Yezierska, The Bread Givers
• Henry Roth, Call It Sleep
• Nathanael West, A Cool Million
• Cynthia Ozick, The Shawl