Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
English
Date of Award
5-2001
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Isabel B. Stanley
Committee Members
Sonya H. Cashdan, William Styron Harris Jr.
Abstract
Critics use the words "vanished culture" to describe Isaac Bashevis Singer's work for Polish Jewry had been destroyed. However, Singer's characters survive the travails of anti-Semitism and resettle in America. This study explores Singer's Polish Jews to determine whether they assimilate into their new culture; or maintain their strong Jewish traditions and adapt to the freedoms of America.
Singer's life is analyzed, including the people and places that have influenced his work. Two of Singer's works are examined in this thesis. Chapters Three and Four explicate an allegorical short story, "The Little Shoemakers." Singer writes a fairytale view of a magnificent rejuvenation in the new world. Chapters Five and Six explore the realistic portrait of Jewish transplants in the novel, Enemies, A Love Story. Chapter Seven concludes that belief in the Jewish faith, along with the love of freedom, allow Singer's characters to adapt, not assimilate, to foreign soil.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Gardberg, Susan L., "Isaac Bashevis Singer: Speak English, Think Yiddish-- Adaptation versus Assimilation." (2001). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 95. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/95
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.