David Cesarani
A People’s Path
By Jonathan Freedland
Hamish Hamilton 389pp £16.99
Since the Enlightenment opened the way for Jews to enter European society, Jewish thinkers have been trying to explain what it means to be a Jew in a secular world and to justify adherence to a tribal faith in an era of universalism. Once Jews ceased to be an alien nation kept apart by discriminatory laws, where did they belong? Should they merge with mainstream society or preserve some differences?
Broadly speaking, the Jews have adopted three strategies. Middle-class assimiliationists reduced Judaism to a creed that could be maintained by the devoted patriots of any particular country. Jewish socialists believed that Jewish workers could preserve national–cultural differences, based on Yiddish, while at the same time realising the goals of social
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
‘I have to change’, Miles Davis once said. ‘It’s like a curse.’
@rwilliams1947 tells the story of how Davis made jazz cool.
Richard Williams - In Their Own Sweet Way
Richard Williams: In Their Own Sweet Way - 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the Lo...
literaryreview.co.uk
The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act by Fredric Jameson - review by Terry Eagleton via @Lit_Review
for the new(ish) April issue of @Lit_Review I commissioned a number of pieces, including Deborah Levy on Bowie, Rosa Lyster on creative non-fiction, @JonSavage1966 on Pulp, @mjohnharrison on Oyamada, @rwilliams1947 on Kind of Blue, @chris_power on HGarner