''Haunted in the New World: Jewish American Culture from Cahan to The Goldbergs'' is a 2005 book by
Donald Weber
Donald Weber is a literary critic and a specialist in Jewish American literature and film studies. He is the Lucia, Ruth, and Elizabeth MacGregor Professor of English and Chair of the English department at Mount Holyoke College.
Background
Web ...
written as an overview of 20th century
Jewish American literature and popular culture.
Abraham Cahan
Abraham "Abe" Cahan (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם קאַהאַן; July 7, 1860 – August 31, 1951) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician. Cahan was one of the founders of ''The Forward'' (), a ...
was one of the most recognizable Jewish-American writers in both
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
and English.
''The Goldbergs'' began in 1929 as a radio comedy and drama about a Jewish-American family, and the show was initially targeted for Yiddish radio stations, but they made the leap first to CBS radio in 1936, and then to mass-market television in 1949, becoming a long-running situation comedy.
Reviews
According to a review in ''American Jewish History'', "Weber's readings prove a valuable resource through their insightful demonstration of the interrelation of public culture with emotions that are deeply felt personally and, at the same time, shared experiences that proved definitional for many American Jews. Indeed,
..''Haunted in the New World'' provides the scholar of American Jewish life a valuable guide to issues of affect that can now seem mystifying to younger generations.
See also
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American literature
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
*
Jewish American literature
External links
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Book review' -
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
*
Book review' -
Project MUSE
Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...
Books of literary criticism
Books about the media
American non-fiction books
Jewish American writers
2005 non-fiction books
Jewish American culture
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