Jewish characters in Canadian fiction : a look in Jewish characters and the attitude toward them in Canadian novels written in English and French

Abstract

It is our purpose in the present work to examine the different attitudes toward the Jewish characters in Canadian fiction in English and French. We shall question whether or not the Jewishness or non-Jewishness of the different authors bears any significance in the way these attitudes are described. We shall thus begin by getting into the worlds of the different authors, then proceed to a thorough look at the characters themselves through the eyes of both Jewish and Gentile authors, and then examine the symbolic value of the Jew as a character in Canadian fiction. Finally, an attempt will be made to evaluate the probable future significance of the Jew in Canadian Literature, with some observations on what the role of the Jewish community might be should it decide to adopt French as its language and thus produce authors whose contribution to French-Canadian Literature might be as great as that to English-Canadian Literature.