The Ridiculous Jew : The Exploitation and Transformation of a Stereotype in Gogol, Turgenev, and Dostoevsky

"In The Ridiculous Jew Gary Rosenshield approaches the disturbing question of early nineteenth-century Russian literary anti-Semitism through deconstruction theory . . . Rosenshield's interpretation of Turgenev's 'The Jew' offers an in-depth historical background for the conclusion that 'the story then both perpetuates the stereotype and challenges the stereotype simultaneously'." -- Nina Pelikan Straus "The Ridiculous Jew is a most welcome and useful addition to the expanding field of Russian-Jewish studies.Rosenshield is a perceptive and sensitive reader and a persuasive and provocative writer." -- Michael R. Katz * Slavic and Eastern European Journal. * "Rosenshield's compelling new book is important, because it demonstrates the maturation of the field of Russian-Jewish literary studies and forces the reader to look back and to look more carefully at Jewish images that may seem simply absurd or repellent. Given the current atmosphere in Russia, the experimentation by government and the populace with reinventing Russianness and the heightening of ethnic tensions, The Ridiculous Jew seems particularly relevant." -- Gabriella Safran