Writing as Freedom, Writing as Testimony

Four Italian Writers and Judaism

By: Sergio Parussa

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Hardcover | 23 December 2008

At a Glance

Hardcover
219 Pages

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23.4 x 15.7 x 2.3

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In Writing as Freedom, Writing as Testimony, Sergio Parussa explores the relationship between Judaism and writing in the works of four twentieth-century Italian writers: Umberto Saba, Natlia Ginzburg, Giorgio Bassani, and Primo Levi. Parussa examines the different ways in which each authors' work responds to Judaism and the notion of Jewish identity.
With great detail, he shows how their writings reflect the change in attitude towards Judaism that occurs in Italian society between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth centuries: from a perception of Jewish identity as a constraint to one's freedom, to an understanding of it as a tool of intellectual freedom that can contribute to one's sense of identity. For these authors, the recovery of Judaism doesn't consist of only telling stories with Jewish subject matter. It also exists in the very gesture of memory, in the repetition of an act of remembering in which the past is salvaged by means of its return to the present. Through memory, one becomes free to affirm difference and to make Jewish traditions integral parts of Italian culture.

Industry Reviews

Parussa has written a fascinating and compelling reevaluation of these important authors through the perspective of specifically Jewish concepts of memory and history. His book speaks eloquently to the situation of Jews in the post-Holocaust Diaspora and will make an important contribution to an understanding of Italian Jewish culture.-- "Nancy Harrowitz, Boston University"
Parussa's major achievement is to show, in a mix of high conceptual analysis and close textual reading, the subtle complexity of each author's oblique, characteristically modern engagement with their Jewishness, both pre- and post-Holocaust, shaped as a sort of 'remnant' (Agamben) and forged within the literary voice.-- "Robert S. C. Gordon, University of Cambridge"

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Non-Fiction Literature, Poetry & Plays History & Criticism of Literature General Literary Studies Religion & Beliefs Judaism Literary Reference Works Literary Companions, Book Reviews & Guides

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Maternal Borders of the Soul: Identity, Judaism, and Writing in the Works of Umberto Saba	p. 41
I Knew That There Was a House: Belonging and Nonbelonging in the Works of Natalia Ginzburg	p. 62
From Myth to History: The Construction of the Narrative Jewish Subject in Giorgio Bassani	p. 94
The Modesty of Starbuck: On Hybrids, Judaism, and Ethics in Primo Levi	p. 132
Epilogue	p. 167
Notes	p. 173
Bibliography	p. 197
Index	p. 209
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Writing as Freedom, Writing as Testimony

Four Italian Writers and Judaism

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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