You are here

FAU Collections » FAU Research Repository » FAU Theses and Dissertations

Evelyn Waugh and the Jews

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
1989
Summary:
The anti-Semitism of Evelyn Waugh went beyond mere literary characterization. A study of Waugh's attitudes toward Nazism, Zionism, and World War II provides evidence that the Jewish characterizations in Waugh's work were underlined by stable and settled negative convictions regarding the Jewish people. Waugh's anti-Semitism had surprisingly little to do with Christian religious teaching but may almost entirely be attributed to upper-class British snobbism and his view that Jews were agents of capitalism, democracy, and secularism. Before the Holocaust Waugh gave his anti-Semitism free and unrestrained rein in his novels. After the Holocaust Waugh tried to blunt anti-Semitism in his novels, but the anti-Semitic outlook was so ingrained in him that he was not entirely successful. There are ample signs of old prejudices at play in his post-war writings. Waugh also denied many of his Jewish characters an authentic Jewish voice.
Title: Evelyn Waugh and the Jews.
2336 views
151 downloads
Name(s): Bittner, David Jonathan
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department of English
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1989
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 100 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The anti-Semitism of Evelyn Waugh went beyond mere literary characterization. A study of Waugh's attitudes toward Nazism, Zionism, and World War II provides evidence that the Jewish characterizations in Waugh's work were underlined by stable and settled negative convictions regarding the Jewish people. Waugh's anti-Semitism had surprisingly little to do with Christian religious teaching but may almost entirely be attributed to upper-class British snobbism and his view that Jews were agents of capitalism, democracy, and secularism. Before the Holocaust Waugh gave his anti-Semitism free and unrestrained rein in his novels. After the Holocaust Waugh tried to blunt anti-Semitism in his novels, but the anti-Semitic outlook was so ingrained in him that he was not entirely successful. There are ample signs of old prejudices at play in his post-war writings. Waugh also denied many of his Jewish characters an authentic Jewish voice.
Identifier: 14504 (digitool), FADT14504 (IID), fau:11302 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Adviser: A. Peyton.
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1989.
Subject(s): Religion, General
Literature, English
Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14504
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.