Treatment of Antisemitism in the Select Works of Howard Jacobson a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Treatment of Antisemitism in the Select Works of Howard Jacobson A Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In English By Smita Devi 11616614 Supervised By Dr. Ajoy Batta Professor and Head of the Department, English Lovely Professional University LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY PUNJAB 2020 Declaration I do hereby acknowledge that: 1. The theses titled “Treatment of Antisemitism in the Select Works of Howard Jacobson” is a presentation of my own work under the kind guidance of my supervisor Dr. Ajoy Batta. All efforts have been made to incorporate the opportune suggestions provided by the Departmental Doctoral Board of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara. 2. The thesis contains no plagiarism, and does not transgress the rights of other researchers and authors. Additionally, the researcher confirms that she has obtained permission from all the copyright owners whose reading materials have been consulted and utilized in the thesis. 3. The final version of printed and soft copies of the thesis is proofread. The completion of the thesis is in line with the assimilation of the suggestions given by the Department Doctoral Board and Research Advisory Committee of the university. 4. The submission of the final version of the printed copy of the thesis is in accordance with the guidelines and the exact content is in CD as a separate PDF file to be uploaded to Shodhganga. Smita Devi (11616614) Place: Phagwara, Punjab, 2020 i Certificate by Advisor This is to certify that the thesis titled “Treatment of Antisemitism in the Select Works of Howard Jacobson”, submitted to Department of English, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English is a record of original and independent research work conducted by Smita Devi (11616614) under my supervision and guidance. The thesis has not formed the basis for the award of any degree/diploma/associate ship/fellowship or any other similar title to any candidate by any university. The candidate has pursued the prescribed coursework of research, and she has incorporated all the suggestions given by the Department Doctoral Board and Research Advisory Committee of the university during her end term presentations and pre- submission seminar. Date: Advisor Dr. Ajoy Batta Professor and Head of the Department Department of English Lovely Professional University Phagwara-144411 (Punjab) ii Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank Almighty God, for giving me strength and perseverance. The constant grace and mercy of God have made me able to accomplish this research journey successfully. First and foremost, I would like to bow my head in front of God who blessed me with opportunity and instincts for pursuing me to work. A journey is easier when we travel together and this present work is the outcome of the support of all those who helped me in one or the other way. It is an honor and very pleasant opportunity to be able to express my gratitude to all of them. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the guidance which was given to me by my Supervisor Dr. Ajoy Batta in the completion of this work. His valuable criticisms are given with a kindness which have acted as a balm to nerves irritated by the stress of meeting the deadlines of a thesis. His unerring support and remarkable presence of mind propelled me through my scholarly tenure to move forward during the finest moments and the darkest hours. It is because of his scrupulous support, magnificent supervision and constancy which compelled me to shape this thesis into a well-crafted manner to befit for the presentation. His vast experience and splendid tutelage boosted me at every step to complete this task. His constancy, encouragement and confident imbibing attitude have always been a moral support for me. I am extremely fortunate to be counted as one of his scholars. I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Sanjay Modi (HOF, LFBA), Dr. Pavitar Prakash Singh (H.O.S. School of Social Sciences and Languages), and the members of the Doctoral Research Board and Research Advisory Committee of Lovely Professional University who contributed immensely to my professional growth. The panel has been a source of good advice and inspiration. I am deeply grateful to the faculty members of the School of Arts and Languages especially Dr. SanjayPrasad Pandey, Dr. Balkar Singh, Dr.Shreya Chettarji, Dr. Nitin Malhotra, Dr. John Eliezer and the entire team of faculties, Department of English and Foreign Languages and the Division of Research and Development LPU especially, Dr. Rekha for enormous concern and sympathies right from the inception of this journey to its culmination. I am really indebted to the librarians of British Council Library, Chandigarh, Delhi, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjabi University Patiala and especially, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara for providing me novels, books, journals andarticles related tomy field. I would also like to give special thanks and gratitude to my beloved family. Specially, my earnest gratitude to my father Mr. Bimal Chandra Sarma and my mother Mrs. Gita Devi iii and also my brother Shyamal for their trust and enduring support and deep-seated love and encouragement with which I could continue the journey of PhD. It is their unconditional conviction in me which influenced me to go for higher studies. It would have been impossible to complete this journey without their support, love and trust. I gratefully thank all my friends and family members for their unfailing support andencouragement. Their care and concern was a great motivating force. The Journey becomes easy with the extensive support of all the above mentioned advisers, panelists,librarians, family and friends. Smita Devi iv Contents Sr. No Title Page No 1. Declaration i 2. Certificate of the Advisor ii 3. Acknowledgements iii-iv 5. Introduction vi-x 6. Chapter-1 Brief Candle 1-73 7. Chapter-2 : Post-Holocaust Jewish Apprehension: Literature of 74-113 Hurt in Kalooki Nights 8. Chapter-3: Antisemitism and Denial of Identity in the Finkler 114-151 Question 9. Chapter-4: Antisemitic Stereotypes and Jewish Anguish in 152-184 Shylock is My Name: Merchant of Venice Retold 10. Chapter-5: Antisemitism and Jewish Historical Trauma in J a 185-217 Novel 11. Chapter-6: Antisemitism and Jewish Consciousness in Roots 218-254 Schmoots and When will Jews be Forgiven the Holocaust? 12. Conclusion 255-264 13. Bibliography 265- 289 v Introduction The present research work entitled “Treatment of Antisemitism in the Select works of Howard Jacobson” is an attempt to explore the author's concern and experiences for the Jews. It aims to study the concept of Jewishness, plight, antisemitism and tragic humor. It is pertinent to note that world history stands testimony to Jewish anxiety. Jews are always alienated, marginalized and exiled. Christianity and Islam also convicted and rejected Jews considering religious difference. To create a pure Aryan race, Adolf Hitler offered history's extreme brutality to Jews, i.e. the Holocaust. Jews are boycotted from every nation which leads to the creation of Jewish nation i.e. the land of Israel. Even, this idea of Zionism is opposed by many which creates the notion of anti-Zionism, an antisemitic conflict. Consequently, Jews become empathetic towards the feeling of alienation and exile. Therefore, the current research considers sociocultural perspective to explore various issues of Judaism and Jews. It tries to explore the post-Holocaust effects and anguish of Jews. Different aspects of these works of Jacobson will be examined in this study through analysis and criticism. Moreover, Jacobson's works will be subjected to problems of British Jews. Jews are treated as the others in an antisemitic society. They are deprived of having free-will. They are condemned as heretics, murderer and the trick-stars. They are scape-goats to denounce and assassin for any crime in the society. Individuals are meant to function at the primary level of acclimatization which helps the victim of violence to adapt the situation. If some people repetitively experience violence then they adopt the skill as life-saving method. Individual exhibits such violence “reproduces it not as memory but as an action, he repeats it, without, of course, knowing what he is repeating … he cannot escape from this compulsion to repeat and in the end we understand that this is his way of remembering (Kolk and Ducey 271)”. Antisemitism brings such violent memory to Jews who not only remember the heinous acts but sometimes responds to in the same manner. Some Jew hating people often try to take advantage of such acts by demeaning the reputation of the Jews without understanding the fact that such actions are the results of violence one has faced in the society. Antisemitic hatred has been expressed considering the religious, communal, and financial aspects which lead to the development of antisemitism in Christian and vi European society. Like, Christian and European society where Jews are often singled out as a demonic and destructive force, Islam did not often attribute satanic powers to the Jews. Jews are discriminated, because they belong to the “Dhimmi” group. Furthermore, Jews were not perceived as a major threat to Islam. It was rather the Christians, who as rulers and members of the opposing imperial forces, were seen as an imminent danger to Islamic dominance and expansion. However, antisemitism has developed as a phenomenon since the mid-19th century. It has started as an imported idea, which infiltrated or permeated the Middle Eastern societies at the beginning by the Christian missionaries, who brought it to the Middle East with their missions. The development of antisemitism in the Arab and Islamic world is related to the introduction of European philosophies into this domain.