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A Note on Sarah Silverman’s Jewishness
Sander Gilman’s book, The Jew’s Body, points out how, since Jews became modern, they were often identified with negative stereotypes based on different body parts such as the nose, the ears, lips, and...
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Another Note on Sarah Silverman’s Jewishness
For the longest time, the claim that someone is a “Self-Hating Jew” has given vent to a lot of attacks on comedians, filmmakers, writers, etc. It often comes up when something is said by this or that...
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Living Schlemiels – Stranger than Fiction
One of the things I have never discussed on this blog is the topic of the “living schlemiel.” To be sure, the most well-known books on the schlemiel – Ruth Wisse’s The Schlemiel as Modern Hero and...
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An American-Post-Holocaust Schlemiel: Another Note on Bernard Malamud’s “The...
Woody Allen’s Zelig traces the path of a character (of the same name) that, Irving Howe suggests (in one segment of Allen’s film), is based on the passionate drive of American Jews in the early 20th...
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Robin Williams and The Post-Holocaust Schlemiel in “Jacob the Liar”
Both Roberto Benigni and Robin Williams are popular, internationally acclaimed comedic actors. Their work does a lot to open up the possibilities of comedy and expand its scope. Perhaps in an effort...
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