Yuri Slezkine, The Jewish Century (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2004)

ASSIGNMENT: Is Yuri Slezkine's book anti-Semitic?

In a paper of approximately 3 double-spaced typed pages, define what you mean by anti-Semitism, outline the argument of the book as well as the kinds of proofs that Slezkine offers, and decide what his intent was in writing the book.

Note: This is an extremely difficult book for an undergraduate to read, first because its argument is complex and hard to follow, and second because the writer assumes you are already familiar with many authors, literary works, historical figures, and ideas that you may not yet have encountered. Don't expect to read it straight through like a novel; rather, work out a plan of attack and pick the book apart as best you can.

I suggest that you read with an encyclopedia at hand or near a computer that gives you access to the internet so that you can look up the names and other references quickly. Read with a pencil in your hand, and make lots of notes in the margins. Try to outline Slezkine's argument on a pad. This will help you to see his points and understand where he's heading.

Because of the book's difficulty, I have designed the assignment to emphasize "digging" for information in the book" and "extracting" or "synthesizing" the author's approach. Although I hope your paper will take on the author's thesis and his method, you will be graded as much on whether you were able to make sense of his presentation, not just on whether you can offer a critique.

I have provided you with a link to an interview with Slezkine about his book, and a reading guide to the opening chapters. I'll try to put more on line in the next day or so. Good luck, and enjoy the rest of break.

--BDC

Begin your reading by taking a look at the interview with Slezkine published in the University of California alumni magazine. This is available online at newscenter.berkeley.edu/goto/Slezkine/ [full url: http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/Alumni/Cal_Monthly/November_2004/QA-_A_conversation_with_Yuri_Slezkine.asp].

After reading this piece, ask yourself what you now know about Slezkine's background, the question he had posed himself at the start, and the reason he changed his focus.
what categories does Slezkine use to describe different groups within organized society? Where do Jews fit in this categorization? Are Jews unique?
What is the relation between modernization and these categories of social behavior? Again, how has this affected the Jews?
What are the main ways in which, according to Slezkine, Jews sought to become modern?
What do you think Slezkine is trying to explain: Jewish success? anti-Semitism? the Holocaust? Zionism? the Jewish role in the Soviet Union? modernity in general?

Now begin reading the book.

Look first at the Table of Contents. Who are Mercury? Swann? [Isaac] Babel, and Hodl? Hint: Swann is a character in a novel by Marcel Proust, and Hodl is one of Tevye's daughters in the stories by Sholem Aleichem that later served as the basis for the play and film, "Fiddler on the Roof." Does the table of contents give you any hints about the structure of the book?

Now look at the Preface. What does it tell you about Slezkine's background? How did his grandmothers differ from each other? To which of his grandmothers does he dedicate the book? Try to imagine the circumstances of Slezkine's adolescence, the pressures on him as he grew up.

Now let's look at the Introduction. How does Slezkine define "modernization" and the changes that the modern age has brought to the world? What does he mean by saying that "modernization...is about everyone becoming Jewish" (1)? What does he mean by saying that "The Age of Nationalism...is about every nation becoming Jewish?" He links modernization with anti-Semitism. How?
Slezkine identifies four modern movements that tried to solved "the Jewish predicament." What are they? Does this list strike you as odd? imbalanced?
Finally, Slezkine gives a definition of who is a Jew for the purposes of his book. Who is he including that might otherwise not be part of the story? Why do you think he did this? Do you agree with the definition?

Chapter I: Mercury's Sandals: The Jews and Other Nomads.
Read this chapter quickly, skimming to clarify your understanding of how Slezkine defines Mercurians and Apolloniarians, and to see whether you agree with his defintiion of these two kinds of social groups. What aspects of Jewish ritual and social behavior does he explain through this categorization? Why is he so eager to demonstrate the Jews are not unique? But if they're not unique, why is his book about them? Finally: what factor(s) does Slezkine regularly ignore in his portrayal of Jewish behavior and culture?

Chapter II: Swann's Nose: the Jews and Other Moderns. [For an explanation of the title, look at page 76 f.]

This chapter is going to refer freely to several books that have tried to explain the modern capitalist system (Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; Werner Sombart, The Jews and Modern Capitalism), to several major literary figures and their works (Franz Kafka; and James Joyce, Ulysses), as well as classic thinkers like Friedrich Nietzche, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and to a lesser extent, members of the Frankfurt School and Georg Lukács.) It may help for you to look these figures and books up before you start reading.

Slezkine begins (40) by explaining why he is focusing on the Jews. What are his reasons?
He discusses Weber's explanation of Puritan economic success at length. Why is a theory about the nature of Protestant self-discipline and spirituality relevant to a book about Jews?
Why does Slezkine emphasize the "tribal" and "familial" aspects of modernity? Where does he see them expressed? How does this relate to the Jews?
When Jews tried to joiin the new nations emerging in Europe, what price does Slezkine say they had to pay? What were the principle (occupational) means by which Jews became modern?
How did people explain "the spectacular Jewish success in the central compartments of modern life" (52)? Are these anti-Semitic explanations? Racist?
Slezkine now tries to address different modern philosophies and explain their relation to Jews. Liberalism is discussed and dismissed, and then emphasis is placed on nationalism, Freudianism, and Marxism. The following questions follow Slezkine's treatment of these "ism"s.
Why did liberalism appeal to Jews? Why, according to Slezkine, didn't it solve the Jews' problems.
How did Jews identify with national traditions in the lands in which they lived? And why was this necessary? [Does this fit in with anything you have read about in the course so far?]
Kafka, Proust and Joyce are seen as literary spokesmen for the spirit of modernity. How does Joyce, an Irish Catholic, fit into the paradigm of Jewish response to modernity. What "Mercurian" or Jewish values does their writing represent?
Marxism and Freudianism are presented as alternatives to Nationalism. How are these two movements "Jewish" according to Slezkine? Why does he present them as "paricidal"?
How does Zionism and other forms of Jewish nationalism fit into his paradigm of modernization?