What a rich book. It cares to show the impact Jewish people have made on the western civilization, particularly in literature. What they did to the western civilization is wonderful. Their translation of famous and important works of philosophy and other fields of knowledge is to be noted. Matthew Arnold says in his book 鈥淐ulture and Anarchy,鈥� that Jews as people whose cultural element has melted in the western civilization through Christianity has been as strong as the cultural element of the Greek鈥檚 and Roman鈥檚. In Pro. Sa鈥檃d鈥檚 book here, many Jewish names are mentioned. Those names have a great impact on the western civilization. However; I am not going to mention but those who influenced the English/American Literature. Most of the names are hated by Jews themselves. Most of the names were described as self-haters and were rejected from the Jewish community. Most of them don鈥檛 look like a Jew or converted to Christianity. The situation they live at was not flowering. Back in the last centuries Jews were not treated well. In 1492, Non Islamic Spain issued an edict to drive out Jews from the kingdom. Jews were minority and always unjustly treated. In 1096, Jews were killed in the city of Rhineland, Germany. It was a massacre. However; it is important to mention that while Jews were treated unjustly almost everywhere, they lived a peaceful life in Islamic Spain (Indulsia), stated by Charles Lehrmann in his book 鈥淛ewish Influence on European Thought.鈥� Not to mention the Nazis. The author of the book came up with the characteristics of a Jewish person. Before I mention the characteristics a difference between Jew and Jewish must be stated. There is a difference between Jew and Jewish. Jew is racially attached to Judaism, like his parents are Jews. On the other hand, Jewish is culturally attached. His religion might be Christianity but he is still Jewish. He care for Jewish cultural and tradition. The characteristics are; 1. The feeling of uniqueness. 2. The feeling of superiority. 3. The keen desire to change Europe to a more liberal and democratic civilization. Europe is in their debt 4. The feeling of being unjustly treated. I hope I wrote them all. These characteristics are driven from the analysis of books and works done by many so called Not Jewish philosophers, poets, novelist, and critics.
Because of all that was mentioned up there, some poets have this inner conflict like Heinrich Heine. In his poems he tried to get rid of the Jewish identity but he couldn鈥檛, since all the troubles happen to the Jewish people. Killing, look down on them. This inner fight with one own self in found as well with Langston Hughes鈥檚 poems. Hughes was neither white nor black. He lived in racist America so his situation is similar to Heine鈥檚. Now for the best part. Believe it or not, one person in the 17th century is responsible for four literary theories and movements. He is Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677). He is a philosopher whose works have influenced many of today鈥檚 thinkers. One of his works is 鈥淭ractatus Theolico-politics.鈥� It was his criticism of the Holy Bible that made a shift in literature. The Holy Bible was not looked upon as the word of God but a literary text. The Bible has the same importance of the writings of Aristotle and Plato. He didn鈥檛 believe in the God of the Bible. He believed in pantheism. God exists in everything. In trees, flowers, birds. Hence the influence on Romanticism. Spinoza believed in science and its ways of understanding. Hence the influence on Realism. He was against Aristocracy and Anarchy. Hence Marxism. Psycho-analysis is based on Romanticism as stated by Lionel Trilling鈥檚 book 鈥淭he Liberal Imagination; Essays on Literature and Society.鈥� * I think I read in this book that Spinoza was a liberal and so Marx. Marx looked at Spinoza as role model or mentor. The same as everybody else. Even though Spinoza鈥檚 ideas were not accepted by everyone. To sum up, Spinoza has influenced Romanticism, Marxism, Realism, and psycho-analysis, according to Christopher Norris as it is stated in his book 鈥淪pinoza and the Origins of Critical Theory.鈥�
Other Jewish personnel like Karl Marx, Benjamin Disraeli, and Freud. Even though they were not Jewish in the public but their works state the opposite. Let鈥檚 start with Marx. According to Arnold Toynbee and George Steiner Marx has driven most of his studies from the Jewish cultural and tradition. Toynbee elaborates more in his book A Study of History. *Marxism is one the best literary theory out there and best applied in the Victorian era. Benjamin Disraeli. He is best known for his novels and for being the prime minister in the Victorian period. He was converted to Christianity as a child but that didn鈥檛 stop him from being a Jewish. He loved the Jewish cultural and traditions. His books speak clearly of the Jewish superiority. You can see that in his novels, Sybil, Tancred, and Coningsby.
Feud. Most of his scholar companions are Jewish.
Harold Bloom is known for being against T.S Eliot.
Finally, the presence the Jewish thinkers, poets, novelist, has increased from the Middle Ages till today.
Two references to be listed here more clearly for their importance are; 1. Lionel Trilling, The Liberal Imagination: Essays on Literature and Society. 2. Christopher Norris, Spinoza and The Origins of Modern Critical Theory
Everything here is a translation from the Original book in Arabic. My opinions are marked by a star *