Iven Poster Sendak

Into the Light of the Night Kitchen The Negotiation of Jewish Identity in the Works of Maurice Sendak Maisie Iven, [email protected] Introduction Into the Light of the Night Kitchen Betrayed by Chicken Soup with Rice The Re-appropriation of Anti-Semitic In The Night Kitchen is often described as Sendak’s most Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) was an American writer Imagery In her article, “Betrayed by Chicken Soup: Judaism, controversial work, and it is listed as one of the most and illustrator, best known for his book Where the Wild Gender and Performance in Maurice Sendak's Really banned children’s books of all time. This is mainly due to Things Are. His works cover fairy and folk tales, Medieval Anti-Semitism Rosie,” Leslie Tannenbaum argues that chicken soup the nudity in the book, when Mickey—the book’s controversial titles about politics, opera scenery, Often the figures Sendak gives staring roles in his and rice—a reoccurring food in Sendak’s writing-- protagonist—looses his clothes in a dreamscape. adventure tales, and more. represents the blend of Jewish and non-Jewish illustrations have Semitic features pulled straight from influences on Sendak’s works. She argues this blend is medieval and Elizabethan artwork. Mickey, a clearly Jewish figure, is captured by happy a move away from Jewish identity, into a more These features include: looking cooks with Hitler’s face who sprinkle him with salt However, beyond his identity as a creator, Sendak’s American identity. • Large noses labelled with the Star of David and other spices labelled work express his own Jewish identity. His works, in • Sunken eyes in Hebrew and Yiddish, then attempt to shove him into an many ways, can be read as a specific example of a While Sendak often cited influences like Mickey Mouse, • Dark hair oven. It is a chilling image. modern Jewish literary identity and the way that it pulp movies, and other strongholds of American • Low, “brutish” brows While Mickey escapes, uses a history and breadth of resources. culture, as well as gentile influences like Shakespeare • Thick lips Sendak makes it clear and Mozart, he also cites Jewish storytelling, especially • Protruding chins across his body of work that the stories told to him by his father and grandfather. escape from violence is not Where Medieval and always possible. And this Jewish Literature Rather than reading this hybrid of influences as a move Elizabethan art used these discussion about the away from an ethnically Jewish identity, it instead could features to mark someone as “other” or “dangerous,” Holocaust is often lost by Sendak uses these features to make his protagonists Jewish-American literature is as diverse as it’s be a move towards a more authentically real Jewish readers’ shock at seeing a easily recognizable not only as Jews, but as the hero people. American viewpoint which may be less identifiable to a naked child. By banning non-Jewish reader. of the story. books, we remove Some of the most common forms follow the separate and The image above comes from We Are All In the Dumps with Jack and Guy, which often distinct waves of immigration of the Jewish people features characters Sendak admits to basing on himself and his brother. marginalized identities to the United States: “Sendak's Jewish community extends beyond the from our shelves. • Spanish-Portuguese (1654-1830) boundaries of Europe and Nazi occupation. It • German (1830-1880) has much to do with an American childhood in Maurice Sendak and the art of the Third Reich • East European (1880-1924) New York City”—Jill P. May, “Envisioning the • post-Holocaust (1940 to the present) Jewish Community in Children's Literature” Sendak uses the more immediate anti-Semitic imagery of Nazi Germany not to indicate the protagonist, but rather Conclusions Sendak’s position as the child of Eastern European Jews In Dear Mili, a book written by Wilhelm to introduce readers to the work’s antagonist. Grimm, but illustrated and adapted by gives him a distinct perspective. Growing up in a Jewish- Sendak, Sendak takes a Christian Maurice Sendak’s work is indicative of Jewish literature Polish neighborhood—insular and not unlike a shtetl— miracle tale and mby Seakes it about For example, the wild things becomes less of a friendly after the Holocaust. The Jewish identity presented in the Sendak’s work often draws on the resources we expect the loss and suffering that occurred in the Holocaust. Throughout, images of Jewish stereotype and more of the monstrous Jew of works of Sendak is one of compromise, of combining from Eastern European Jewish literature. family members lost by Sendak and Nazi propaganda when Max attempts to sail home Jewish and gentile sources, of taking the images of his family during the Holocaust can be against their wishes. oppression to create an easily recognizable visual seen making their way through the The arrival of his family members fleeing the Holocaust garden of Heaven. vocabulary. colors Sendak’s work. Tony Kushner describes Sendak Left: Where the Wild Things Are by Sendak as “shadowed always by the Holocaust.” He draws often What we see in Sendak’s work is the Jewish people on post-Holocaust literature and images to present Right: Nazi taking a variety of resources to create an identity nightmares, discomfort, and anger. propaganda c. 1942 from the American after the destruction of a culture. Like in The Sign on Rosie’s Holocause Museum: Some of Sendak’s work is overtly Jewish, drawing on Door, Sendak’s books often https://www.ushmm.or recreate the neighbourhood g/wlc/en/article.php?M Jewish stories, folk traditions, and holidays. Interestingly, he grew up in. oduleId=10007819 these are most often works he illustrated, but did not Sendak himself described write—Sendak is not generating wholly Jewish works this neighbourhood as a Bibliography recreation of a Jewish- from scratch, but drawing on a larger tradition. Polish village. In Brundibár, based on an opera performed in the Terezin concentration camp, Hitler is the villain, and he is often made larger than other characters, or even larger than life, becoming a nightmarish Übermensch. Jewish iconography is used to indicate safety. Hitler is made into a terrifying caricature in Brundibár, and is defeated with the Jewish community rallying around “Never again! Never Even in his more fantastic stories, like Outside Over There, Sendak often gives again!” Quote from Kushner, Tony. The art of Maurice Sendak : 1980 to the present , Semetic traits and facial characteristics to protagonists. Although many of Although the story page 192. these fantasy stories mimick Christian fairy tales (in the case of Outside Over promises that this same There) or Christian story telling (like the Robinsonade presented in Where the type of violence will return Art (left to right), Happy Hanukah Everybody by Hanover, Hyman, illustrations by Wild Things Are), Sendak places Jewish figures at the heart of a vibrant story. if the good people of the Maurice Sendak; Zlateh the Goat by Singer, Isaac, illustrations by Maurice world do not work towards Sendak; One Was Johnny by Maurice Sendak justice. .

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