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Jewish Hunamism in Bernard Malamud's Novels: The Assistant, The Fixer, and A New Life
- Alternative Title
- 맬라머드 소설에 나타난 유대적 휴머니즘
- Author(s)
- 김성숙
- Alternative Author(s)
- 金聖淑
- Advisor
- 劉正恩
- Department
- 일반대학원 영어영문학과
- Publisher
- The Graduate School, Ajou University
- Publication Year
- 2005
- Language
- eng
- Alternative Abstract
- Bernard Malamud (1914-1986) emphasized that the writer’s role is to be a moralist. Thus, he focuses on “goodness” in his novels. Although the subjects and settings of his works vary widely, he consistently emphasizes moral earnestness. He believes that every person can develop into a moral and mature person through suffering and training. Each human being has an innate quality that makes it possible to discover a mature morality. In his works, he presents moral purpose most clearly through his own particular view of Judaism. An important consideration is whether Malamud intentionally writes a Jewish novel because he is a Jew. However, Malamud clearly states that his Jewish characters represent not only Jews but “everyman.” His writings reveal that Jewishness and the Jewish milieu often play significant roles. He clearly intends for Jewishness to function as an ethical symbol. Jewishness means being conscious of the Jewish mind and soul. It is the essence of the culture, the literature, the ethics, the morality, and the living Jewish tradition. In his works he uses Jewish folk figures, his early experiences in the immigrant milieu, and the central development of the idea of Jewishness. Malamud frequently writes about Jewish characters while employing Old Testament themes, but he is not a religious writer-i.e., one primarily concerned with Judaism. Thus, Malamud writes about Jews and Judaism according to his general conception of Jewishness. He typically uses Judaism as a tool in his novel, but he emphasizes that man can be saved by his good efforts through suffering, sacrifice, and mental growth. This thought especially influenced his second novel, The Assistant (1957), in which it is possible to see the nature of the Jewish characters from his perspective of Judaism. Some characteristics of his Judaism mirror the teachings of Judaism; however, there are also differences. These differences are significant for this study. Throughout The Assistant (1957), The Fixer (1966), and A New Life (1961), he uses the image of the Jew and the ethics of Judaism as a standard of behavior. However, his approach to Jewishness is not so much parochial as it is secular. Beginning with his early writings, he began to shape his own particular view of Jewishness and Judaism in combination with his humanist ideas, resulting in a Jewish humanism. Because his writings cannot be separated from his own particular view of Judaism-i.e., Jewish humanism-this dissertation deals at length with the two subjects of Judaism and humanism and how they are interwoven in his writings.
- Fulltext
- Appears in Collections:
- Graduate School of Ajou University > Department of English Literature > 3. Theses(Master)
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