Justice You Shall Pursue: Jewish American Pragmatism by Courtney Diane Ferriter A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama May 8, 2017 Keywords: American pragmatism, Jewish American literature, identity politics, democracy Copyright 2017 by Courtney Diane Ferriter Approved by Miriam Marty Clark, Chair, Associate Professor of English Susana Morris, Associate Professor of English Marc Silverstein, Professor of English James Emmett Ryan, Jean Wickstrom Liles Professor of English Murray Jardine, Professor of Political Science Abstract Pragmatist thinkers like Jane Addams, W.E.B. Du Bois, and John Dewey advocated for greater inclusivity in our democracy, urging Americans to an understanding of democracy as process. Nevertheless, pragmatist philosophy has sometimes been accused by critics and adherents alike of being insufficiently political, particularly where racism is concerned (West 1989, Hart 2006, Muyumba 2009). While some scholarly work has identified and traced an African American pragmatist lineage (Posnock 1998, Glaude 2010), pragmatism is still largely associated with white male philosophy, considering that the most well-known pragmatist figures—C.S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey—were all white men. However, scholarship to date has not addressed the central question of pragmatism’s political power, particularly regarding social justice. My project, Justice You Shall Pursue: Jewish American Pragmatism, remedies this gap by analyzing the socially and politically conscious impact of Jewish writers and thinkers on the development of American pragmatism. Chapter 1 identifies two major concerns of twentieth century Jewish pragmatists: a developing Jewish identity politics in the first half of the century and calls for inclusive democracy in the latter part of the century. Chapter 2 explores politics of feeling in the work of Gertrude Stein and Anzia Yezierska, which contributes to an evolving discussion of identity as essentialist vs. constructed in the early part of the twentieth century by suggesting that neither viewpoint is wholly accurate. Chapter 3 details the post-Holocaust focus of Bernard Malamud and Cynthia Ozick on Jewish dignity and collective Jewish responsibility as well as Ozick’s push ii for Jewish identification over assimilation. Finally, Chapter 4 discusses the Deweyan democratic visions of Malamud, Grace Paley, and Tony Kushner, who champion the cause of a more inclusive democratic community in their work. I conclude that, like African American pragmatism, Jewish pragmatism maintains a focus on social justice as central to democratic progress, and I propose additional areas of research for reading other multicultural writers using pragmatist philosophy. Far from being politically powerless as some critics have claimed, my research reveals that pragmatism is politically active when engaged by marginalized groups, which demonstrates the importance of both Jewish and African American (as well as other multicultural) writers to the continued development of historically white-centered theory. iii Acknowledgments I would like to extend my thanks, sincere gratitude, and appreciation to several individuals. First, I thank my dissertation committee members—Susana Morris, Jim Ryan, and Marc Silverstein—for their thoughtful readings and many helpful suggestions and conversations throughout the dissertation writing process. Particular thanks goes to my dissertation chair, Miriam Marty Clark, without whose sharp insight, gentle delivery, and sustained mentoring and guidance, both I and this document would be so much poorer. Thanks also to Lindsey Zanchettin, Julia Tigner, Michael Frazer, Le’Nessa Coe-Clark, Taylor Bowman, & Cassandra Boze, whose friendship and support have been a source of comfort and sustenance to me throughout this process. I also extend my thanks and appreciation to the staff of Ralph Brown Draughon Library, especially those who manage the library’s online databases and everyone who works in Interlibrary Loans; I would not have been able to complete my research without them. Thanks also to staff of the Tigertown Starbucks in Opelika, where I completed much of my writing, for their pleasant company and humor. To my Beth Shalom community in Auburn, becoming a part of this community has been the best decision I’ve made in the whole time that I’ve lived in Auburn—it has given me meaning, and I love you all dearly. Wherever life takes me next, I will always keep this community close to my heart. To Danielle Litt-Halpern and Ahuva Zaches, my love for you and gratitude for your friendship and support over the past decade is more vast than I could reasonably hope to iv express. Finally, to my parents, Steve and Cathy Ferriter, you are what all parents should aspire to be—open, loving, generous, and accepting. I feel blessed, grateful, and humbled everyday by your constant pride, support, and fierce, fierce love for me. This dissertation is dedicated to Miriam Marty Clark, who taught and continues to teach me about pragmatism; to Danielle Litt-Halpern and Ahuva Zaches, who taught and continue to teach me about Judaism; and to Steve and Cathy Ferriter, who gave me life and, more importantly, unwavering love. v Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ iv Introduction: Another Pragmatism ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1—Jewish Pragmatism, Race, Identity Politics, and Democracy ................................. 12 Socio-Political Catalysts ................................................................................................. 14 The Science of Race........................................................................................................ 16 Anti-Semitism and the Jewish Question ......................................................................... 24 The Debate over Zionism................................................................................................ 30 Jewish Pragmatists and Democratic Communication ..................................................... 36 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 2—Felt Facts: Stein and Yezierska’s Identity Politics .................................................. 61 Stein’s Politics of Feeling in Three Lives ....................................................................... 64 The Good Anna and Heteronormative “Dignity” ........................................................... 72 The Gentle Lena—Is Ignorance Really Bliss? ................................................................ 77 Each One as She May; or, Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t ......................... 82 Immigrant Feeling in Anzia Yezierska ........................................................................... 90 Essentialized Science vs. Individual Feeling .................................................................. 95 Calls for Social Reform .................................................................................................. 99 Essential or Constructed Americanness? ...................................................................... 103 vi Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter 3—Appreciating Jewish History, Acknowledging Jewish Dignity ............................ 111 Malamudian Jewish Identity ......................................................................................... 114 Assimilation vs. Jewish Selfhood in Ozick................................................................... 134 Chapter 4—“We Will Be Citizens”: Jewish Pragmatists and Deweyan Democracy ............... 162 Conclusions: Putting Pragmatism to Work ............................................................................... 210 References ................................................................................................................................ 219 vii Introduction: Another Pragmatism In his 1998 book Color and Culture, Ross Posnock hailed what he saw as “the current decline of identity politics.”1 As I write, in the wake of the 2016 election, it seems that not only has identity politics not declined since Posnock’s book was published, but Americans of all colors and creeds appear to have doubled down on identity politics, resulting in both positive and negative consequences. On the one hand, there have been more calls for multiculturalism in terms of representation in the academy and greater diversity in race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity in film and on television. On the other hand, this doubling down has simultaneously resulted in the election to the presidency of an unstable demagogue with no prior political experience who rose to the top on a platform of white (supremacist) identity politics. In a New York Times op-ed column published shortly after the 2016 election, Columbia professor Mark Lilla argues in favor of “a post-identity liberalism,”2 pointing out that the decades-old liberal tactic of focusing on identity politics