University of Texas Press
Memory, Oblivion, and Jewish Culture in Latin America
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Edited by:
About this book
Latin America has been a refuge for Jews fleeing persecution from 1492, when Sepharad Jews were expelled from Spain, until well into the twentieth century, when European Jews sought sanctuary there from the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. Vibrant Jewish communities have deep roots in countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Guatemala, and Chile—though members of these communities have at times experienced the pain of being "the other," ostracized by Christian society and even tortured by military governments. While commonalities of religion and culture link these communities across time and national boundaries, the Jewish experience in Latin America is irreducible to a single perspective. Only a multitude of voices can express it.
This anthology gathers fifteen essays by historians, creative writers, artists, literary scholars, anthropologists, and social scientists who collectively tell the story of Jewish life in Latin America. Some of the pieces are personal tales of exile and survival; some explore Jewish humor and its role in amalgamating histories of past and present; and others look at serious episodes of political persecution and military dictatorship. As a whole, these challenging essays ask what Jewish identity is in Latin America and how it changes throughout history. They leave us to ponder the tantalizing question: Does being Jewish in the Americas speak to a transitory history or a more permanent one?
Author / Editor information
Marjorie Agosín, Professor of Spanish at Wellesley College, is an award-winning poet, memoirist, creative writer, and public speaker.
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Frontmatter
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Contents
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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Introduction
xi - Section I Sephardim in Our Memory
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Remembering Sepharad
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The Sephardic Legacy
15 - Section II Journeys
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Tuesday Is a Good Day
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My Panama
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A Journey through My Life and Latin American Jewish Studies
61 - Section III The Paradox of Communities
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Chile and the Nazis
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‘‘Are You Sure They’re Really Jewish?’’ a selective history of Mexico city’s Beth Israel community center
91 -
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Dancing around the Political Divide between the ‘‘legal’’ and the ‘‘regal’’ in the Mexican Jewish community
101 - Section IV A Literature of Transformation
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The Heterogeneous Jewish Wit of Margo Glantz
115 -
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Preserving the Family Album in Letargo by Perla Suez
131 - Section V Culture, History, and Representation
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Lamentations for the AMIA: literary responses to communal trauma
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Nationalism, Education, and Identity Argentine Jews and catholic religious instruction, 1943–1 955
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From Gauchos judíos to Idishe mames posmodernas popular Jewish culture in Buenos Aires
177 -
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Gabriel Valansi: neoliberal nights in Buenos Aires
207 -
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While Waiting for the Ferry to Cuba afterthoughts about adio kerida
221 -
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La menora de la alegría para Josefina Agosín
235 -
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Index
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