{"product_id":"the-wandering-signifier-9780822343677","title":"The Wandering Signifier","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTraces the symbolic presence of Jews and Jewishness in late nineteenth- through late-twentieth-century aesthetic works from Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Nicaragua. This book investigates the literary representations of Jewishness, revealing a complex anxiety surrounding difference in modern Latin American culture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Issues of difference have become central to debates about Latin American culture, making this book a valuable contribution to a corpus of literature about identity in the Americas.” - Gavin O’Toole, \u003ci\u003eLatin American Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e makes an important and much-needed contribution to Latin American literary studies. The book develops a series of thematic explorations that have previously been understudied in this field, while also making a convincing argument as to the importance of Jewishness for Latin American literary and social history. Moreover, Graff Zivin’s readings are enlivened by her sophisticated grasp of difficult theoretical debates (Levinas and Derrida in particular). . . . [I]n \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e Graff Zivin has established a new and vital bridge between two fields that have avoided sustained consideration of their points in common for too long now.” - Patrick Dove, \u003ci\u003eShofar\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier \u003c\/i\u003efills a void in the fields of Latin American and Jewish studies with an original, intelligent, and well-researched study of the problems of representing constructions of Jewish identity from a cultural, ideological, racial, and political perspective. . . . Thanks to her sophisticated analysis of the difficult problem of representation of alterity in Latin American literature and her novel perspective on the uses of the concepts of ‘Jew’ and ‘Jewishness’ in this body of literature, \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier \u003c\/i\u003emakes an important contribution to Jewish and Latin American Studies scholarship and to the field of cultural studies in general.” - Ariana Huberman, \u003ci\u003eHispanic Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In this original and profound study, Graff Zivin raises deep philosophical and methodological concerns. . . . It is here, in the third section that concludes the book, where the importance of Graff Zivin’s work lies, raising the discussion of Jewishness to a completely new level.” - Amalia Ran,\u003ci\u003e EIAL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“As a comprehensive analysis of the rhetoric of Jewishness, with emphasis on literary theory, \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e should be of interest to students of Latin American, Cultural and Jewish Studies.” - Nora Glickman, \u003ci\u003eBulletin of Latin American Research\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e is a superb cross-national literary study that touches on questions of diaspora, ethnic relations, and memory. It is accessible to a broad public interested in fields including Latin American studies, cultural studies, and Jewish studies. Erin Graff Zivin moves subtly between the work of Zygmunt Bauman, Jorge Luis Borges, Margo Glantz, and Ricardo Piglia (among many others) to examine the sociopolitical implications of the many symbolic constructions of Jewishness in Latin American literature. The imaginative scholarship, narrative excellence, and wide-ranging insights make this work required reading for students in multiple fields.”—\u003cb\u003eJeffrey Lesser\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eA Discontented Diaspora: Japanese Brazilians and the Meanings of Ethnic Militancy, 1960–1980\u003c\/i\u003e, and coeditor of \u003ci\u003eRethinking Jewish-Latin Americans\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Erin Graff Zivin’s book proposes a sophisticated reflection on notions of national belonging, scenes of cultural crisis, and the ethical import of constructing the ‘Jew-as-Other’ in critical moments of Latin American history. Indeed, this is the first study to address the powerful symbolic presence of Jews in Latin America and the first to consider the ways in which the literary representations of Jewishness enter into productive discussions of citizenship, identity, and ultimately salutary alterity. I am willing to predict that \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e will very soon be considered an indispensable book.”—\u003cb\u003eSylvia Molloy\u003c\/b\u003e, Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, New York University\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier \u003c\/i\u003efills a void in the fields of Latin American and Jewish studies with an original, intelligent, and well-researched study of the problems of representing constructions of Jewish identity from a cultural, ideological, racial, and political perspective. . . . Thanks to her sophisticated analysis of the difficult problem of representation of alterity in Latin American literature and her novel perspective on the uses of the concepts of ‘Jew’ and ‘Jewishness’ in this body of literature, \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier \u003c\/i\u003emakes an important contribution to Jewish and Latin American Studies scholarship and to the field of cultural studies in general.” -- Ariana Huberman * Hispanic Review *\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e makes an important and much-needed contribution to Latin American literary studies. The book develops a series of thematic explorations that have previously been understudied in this field, while also making a convincing argument as to the importance of Jewishness for Latin American literary and social history. Moreover, Graff Zivin’s readings are enlivened by her sophisticated grasp of difficult theoretical debates (Levinas and Derrida in particular). . . . [I]n \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e Graff Zivin has established a new and vital bridge between two fields that have avoided sustained consideration of their points in common for too long now.” -- Patrick Dove * Shofar *\u003cbr\u003e“As a comprehensive analysis of the rhetoric of Jewishness, with emphasis on literary theory, \u003ci\u003eThe Wandering Signifier\u003c\/i\u003e should be of interest to students of Latin American, Cultural and Jewish Studies.” -- Nora Glickman * Bulletin of Latin American Research *\u003cbr\u003e“In this original and profound study, Graff Zivin raises deep philosophical and methodological concerns. . . . It is here, in the third section that concludes the book, where the importance of Graff Zivin’s work lies, raising the discussion of Jewishness to a completely new level.” -- Amalia Ran * EIAL *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments ix\u003cbr\u003e Introduction: \"Jewishness,\" Alterity, and the Ethics of Representation 1\u003cbr\u003e 1. Diagnosing \"Jewishness\" 29\u003cbr\u003e 2. The Scene of the Transaction 74\u003cbr\u003e 3. Textual Conversations 119\u003cbr\u003e 4. The Limits of Representation 154\u003cbr\u003e Notes 179\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography 195\u003cbr\u003e Index 207","brand":"Duke University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49406053843287,"sku":"9780822343677","price":22.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-wandering-signifier-9780822343677","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}