Tony Kushner's award-winning epic play ""Angels in America"" was remarkable not only for its sensitive engagement of Jewish-American and gay culture but also for bringing these themes to a mainstream audience. While the play represented a watershed in American theater and culture, it belies a hundred years of previous attention to queer Jewish identity in twentieth-century American literature, drama, and film. In ""The Passing Game"", Warren Hoffman sheds light on this long history, taking up both Yiddish and English narratives that explore the tensions among Jewish identity, queer sexuality, performance, and American citizenship.
With fresh insight Hoffman examines the 1907 Yiddish play ""God of Vengeance"" by Sholem Asch, the cross-dressing films of Yiddish actress Molly Picon, and several short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer. He also analyzes the English-language novels ""The Rise of David Levinsky"" (Abraham Cahan), ""Wasteland"" (Jo Sinclair), and Portnoy's ""Complaint"" (Phillip Roth). Hoffman highlights the ways in which the characters in these canonical texts attempt to 'pass' as white, straight, and American in the early and mid - twentieth century.
This pioneering work is a welcome contribution to the study of Jewish American literature and culture.
| ISBN: | 9780815632023 |
| Publication date: | 3rd November 2008 |
| Author: | Warren Hoffman |
| Publisher: | Syracuse University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 206 pages |
| Series: | Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art |
| Genres: |
Biography, Literature and Literary studies Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers Literature: history and criticism |
Tony Kushner's award-winning epic play ""Angels in America"" was remarkable not only for its sensitive engagement of Jewish-American and gay culture but also for bringing these themes to a mainstream audience. While the play represented a watershed in American theater and culture, it belies a hundred years of previous attention to queer Jewish identity in twentieth-century American literature, drama, and film.
The Passing Game features in the following genres: Biography, Literature and Literary studies, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literature: history and criticism
Hardback. Not Available.
The Passing Game was written by Warren Hoffman and published by Syracuse University Press
The Passing Game has 206 pages
Yes it is part of Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art series