GENERATING GEOGRAPHIES AND GENEALOGIES: JEWISH WOMEN WRITING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN FRENCH by NATALIE RACHEL KAFTAN BRENNER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Romance Languages and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2019 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Natalie Rachel Kaftan Brenner Title: Generating Geographies and Genealogies: Jewish Women Writing the Twentieth Century in French This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Romance Languages by: Evlyn Gould Chairperson and Advisor Karen McPherson Core Member Gina Herrmann Core Member Judith Raiskin Institutional Representative and Janet Woodruff-Borden Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2019 ii © 2019 Natalie Rachel Kaftan Brenner iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Natalie Rachel Kaftan Brenner Doctor of Philosophy Department of Romance Languages June 2019 Title: Generating Geographies and Genealogies: Jewish Women Writing the Twentieth Century in French This dissertation offers an alternative account of Jewish history and experience from within the post-Holocaust and postcolonial Francophone world through the study of six autobiographically-inclined texts written by three generations of Francophone Jewish women of diverse geographical origins. While France was the first European nation-state to grant citizenship to Jews in 1791 and the French Republic has since branded itself as a beacon of tolerance, this tolerance has been contingent upon a strict politics of assimilation and has been challenged by French colonization and participation in the Holocaust. Simultaneously, the evolution of French memory politics and official historical narratives throughout the second half of the twentieth century has reflected a slow coming to terms with and official recognition of French participation in the Holocaust at the expense of acknowledging the traumas of de/colonization also inflicted by the French State. As a result, Jews and postcolonial populations – all marginalized groups affected by these traumatic episodes of modern French history – have been placed in separate categories. This separation has on the one hand reinforced identity politics and narratives of competing victimhood, occluding the interconnections between antisemitism, racism and Islamophobia, and on the other hand excluded Jews from debates concerning multiculturalism and inclusive citizenship. iv This dissertation demonstrates that these histories of assimilation, exclusion and marginalization are interconnected rather than separate. With an intentional focus on Jewish women and their writing as a means of demonstrating these false separations, I posit and trace the development of “écriture juive féminine” (“Jewish feminine writing”) across the three generations of writers, a textuality characterized and driven by five principles: an ethics of openness to the true, untheorizable and irreducible alterity of others achieved through listening, extreme and perpetual liminality that calls readers into the discomfort of uncertainty, an imperative to mourn and remember losses, an endlessly regenerative writing that resists singular interpretation and opens into further questions, and writing with the body against phallologocentrism. This writing addresses politics of assimilation and exclusion, proposing instead a radical universalism that includes the particular without reducing it to essentialist categories. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Natalie Rachel Kaftan Brenner GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Kalamazoo College, MI DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Romance Languages, 2019, University of Oregon Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 2019, University of Oregon Master of Arts, French, 2012, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, French and History, 2007, Kalamazoo College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: 19th-21st century French and Francophone Literature Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Judaic Studies Language Acquisition Theory and Practice Translation Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Employee, University of Oregon, September 2010-June 2019 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Beall Dissertation Fellowship, Department of Romance Languages, University of Oregon, 2019 Summer Institute Fellowship, Holocaust Educational Foundation, 2017 Global Studies Institute Summer Translation Award, University of Oregon 2017 vi Dissertation Fellowship, Oregon Humanities Center, 2017 Beall Dissertation Fellowship in Lyon, France, University of Oregon, 2014 Graduate Student Travel Award, Women In French, 2014 PUBLICATIONS: Brenner, Natalie R.K. “ ‘Finding Irène Némirovsky’ in the Liminal Narrative Spaces of Le Vin de solitude.” Women In French Studies. “Selected Essays From Women In French International Conference.” Special Edition, 2015, pp. 148-161. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It took a village to bring this work to its completion. First and foremost, I thank my advisor, Evlyn Gould, for her steady support during a very challenging time in my life, her kind and patient guidance, her genuine interest in this project and belief in its value, and her brilliant mind and open heart. She is a wise and exemplary scholar, teacher, and mentor, and I am so fortunate to have worked with her. I am also fortunate and thankful to have had three additional committee members whose enthusiasm for my work kept me going. Karen McPherson’s empathic support and gentle encouragement gave me breath and perspective in moments of panic, and her careful reading and insightful comments have made my work become clearer and sharper. Her scholarship has been an inspiration to me for her ability to write about what matters most, with clarity, depth and intelligence. Gina Herrmann offered invaluable practical advice and professional opportunities, pushed me to step more fully into Holocaust Studies, and challenged me to approach my work with more confidence. Judith (Julee) Raiskin introduced me into the world of Jewish feminism and enriched this project for the different perspectives that world has offered. She too has been a source of encouragement, intelligent insights and steady support, extending well beyond the job description of an institutional member. To these four women, I will be forever grateful. I must also thank the Department of Romance Languages for the financial support and professional opportunities it gave me. My teaching experiences in the French program have been invaluable and rewarding, and I was able to live, work, and conduct archival research in France with the help of the Lyon Beall Scholarship. With the Beall Dissertation Fellowship this past winter, I was able to complete the final stages of this project. I was also very fortunate to be awarded an Oregon Humanities Center viii Dissertation Fellowship in 2017, allowing me invaluable time and focus with which to come back to my writing after taking a leave of absence. Without that time in the Oregon Humanities Center, I may never have begun writing Chapter III, the most challenging chapter of this dissertation for me. Finally, I would never have finished this project without the steadfast support of family and friends. I am beyond fortunate to possess what my dear Aunt Jude recently called “an embarrassment of riches” in this domain, or what my dad, Dave, called “the best kind of wealth.” To my husband and partner, Rick, I cannot say “thank you” enough for the stability, comfort, reassurance and love you have given me. This dissertation is as much yours as it is mine, for the stress we both endured during the process of writing it. Your patience and belief in me have kept me going. To my dearest friend Jess, thank you for listening, processing, and holding this intense experience with me every step of the way. To my mom, Anne, thank you for encouraging me to follow my heart and intuition and validating those parts of me that I sometimes – mistakenly – think should be ignored. To my dad, Dave, whose early departure made finishing this project first seem impossible and then slowly enriched and deepened it, thank you for everything. To the many other friends, colleagues, and family members – you know who you are – who have helped me along this journey, thank you. ix To my grandmother, Eva Luzia Mueller Greenberg, who opened the door that brought me here. X TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: METHODOLOGIES OF WEAVING THREADS AND READING IN REVERSE ........................................................................................... 1 II. MIDRASH FOR THE FUTURE: RE-ORIENTING AND QUEERING MAGHREBI JEWISH ROOTS IN GÉOGRAPHIE DES ORIGINES AND UN ÉTÉ À JÉRUSALEM ..................................................................................................................................... 46 III. “CHANTER L’ABÎME” / “ÉCRIRE LE RIEN”: WRITING AS RE-MEMBERING IN OSNABRÜCK AND LA QUÉBÉCOITE .............................................................. 181 IV. FROM ÉCRITURE JUIVE FÉMININE TO ÉCRITURE JUIFÉMININE: ANXIOUS ELLIPTICAL OPENINGS AND EVASIONS IN ENFANCE AND LE VIN DE SOLITUDE .................................................................................................................. 283 V. CONCLUSION: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED? .............................................