Posted by Eugene Volokh: Jewish "Self-Loathing": A reader pointed me to a [1]Web post titled "Jews and Self-Loathing," which condemns some Jewish writers' work that "promote[s] their own stereotypes," and expresses doubt that "certain forms of Jewish humor is really good for the Jews."
I'm always skeptical of these claims of "self-loathing," whether in [2]politics or in literature or entertainment. They generally strike me as hyperbole that works to insult but not really to enlighten. I suppose some Jews who portray Jewish characters with negative traits may actually loathe themselves, or loathe Jews (see [3]Eric Muller's thoughts, and my response to them). I suspect that most don't. Rather, they may want to criticize some aspects of Jewish life (whether Orthodox or secular). They may want to point out some aspects of common Jewish behavior that are funny. Or they may just want to tell a story in which some character is Jewish, interesting, and credible. They may want to create rich characters that have good points as well as bad ones. They may want to describe characters as they or others see them: Saying that someone has a [4]Jewish nose may indirectly bear on those very points. Or they may want to be vividly descriptive; a Jewish nose is not the same as a strong or prominent nose, for instance. What's more, the ability to make fun of one's own group is often healthy: It helps people critically examine certain traits, and it also makes for good comedy. Conversely, judging either literature or comedy based on whether it's "good for the Jews" (or good for anyone else) tends to make for not very good literature or comedy. There are, I'm sure, some costs in perpetuating stereotypes -- even often accurate, though naturally incomplete, stereotypes -- of Jews or of others, even in fiction. But I think there are greater costs in demanding that humor or storytelling be socially responsible. Sometimes there's a story that reflects badly on people in some group (consider movies about the Italian mafia). It's important for observers to realize (and if necessary to stress to others) that the story isn't supposed to characterize all or even most members of the group, but I don't think that authors should refrain from telling the story for fear that it will fuel wrongheaded views. Now of course one can get only so far by talking about this in the abstract. The post points to an article that discusses Meet the Fokkers; I haven't seen the movie, so I can't speak to it. But I doubt that it truly represents self-loathing. And I suspect that asking Jewish writers to focus on whether their stories are bad for the Jews will just lead to bad Jewish writing. References 1. http://www.dissemination.org/archives/2005/03/jews_and_selflo.html#comments 2. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_15-2004_08_21.shtml#1092769963 3. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_08_15-2004_08_21.shtml#1092940021 4. http://www.dissemination.org/archives/2005/03/jews_and_selflo.html#comments _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://highsorcery.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
