Gollance, Sonia;
(2022)
Dance as a Tool of Pleasure and Humiliation in I. J. Singer’s The Brothers Ashkenazi.
Prooftexts: a journal of Jewish literary history
, 39
(3)
pp. 422-453.
10.2979/prooftexts.39.3.04.
Preview |
Text
Gollance_B-Gollance Dance IJ SInger article SG comments WZ 9.25 SG 1.17 WZ 2.4 SG 2.7 FIN.pdf Download (506kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Dance is a crucial yet largely unrecognized motif in I. J. Singer’s Yiddish-language family epic Di brider Ashkenazi (The Brothers Ashkenazi), which chronicles Jewish life in Łódź. In his famous article, “Mayufes: A Window on Polish-Jewish Relations,” Chone Shmeruk recounts how a Polish officer orders the brothers Max and Yakub Ashkenazi to dance a humiliating mayufes—Yakub resists, and the officer shoots him. Shmeruk claims Singer’s rendition is “perhaps the most poignant mayufes of all.” While this scene of forced dancing is arguably the best-known scene in the novel, this article approaches it in connection with an earlier transgressive mixed-sex wedding dance and demonstrates how dancing scenes in the novel juxtapose late nineteenth-century dreams of embourgeoisement with the reality of early twentieth-century antisemitism. As such, the dance floor both challenges and reifies power structures in the novel. What is more, these dance scenes take place at crucial moments in the plot, emphasizing the moments of rupture and reconciliation between the eponymous brothers and highlighting the physical contrast between cerebral striver Max and lusty, good-natured Yakub. By examining these seemingly disparate dance scenes, it is possible to gain a deeper perspective into the ways acculturation and antisemitism operate on the Polish-Jewish body.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Dance as a Tool of Pleasure and Humiliation in I. J. Singer’s The Brothers Ashkenazi |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.2979/prooftexts.39.3.04 |
| Publisher version: | https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/article/875647 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article was published as Gollance, Sonia. "Dance as a Tool of Pleasure and Humiliation in I. J. Singer’s The Brothers Ashkenazi." Prooftexts, vol. 39 no. 3, 2022, p. 422-453. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/875647. No part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or distributed, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Indiana University Press. For re- use, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center (www.copyright.com, 508-744-3350). For all other permissions, please visit http://iupress.org. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of Hebrew and Jewish Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167574 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
