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Jews and Violence: Images, Ideologies, and Realities (review)

Jews and Violence: Images, Ideologies, and Realities (review) Hofman finally revisits the themes of cultural integration, hybridization, and intercultural background of Croatian Jews by discussing the novo-komonirari Zidovi (newly composed Jews) who frequent the ZOZ. She details how some of these men and women chose to recognize their Jewish ancestors in order to fashion contemporary Jewish identities. These are the "intercultural" Jews Hofman mentioned in the introduction, and she attributes the attraction they feel towards their Jewish heritage to symbolic essentialism--their heavy reliance on essentialized notions of identity, such as physical appearance and last names, to "feel connected to their cultural communities" (p. 5). She explores this intercultural theme further by detailing how these Croatian Jews have a "dual identity" because they "feel" as if they are both Croatian and Jewish. Hofman ends her book by commenting that "if there is a real crisis facing Croatian Jews it is the institutionalized disregard for the multiple and diverse versions of Jewish community life that have coexisted for centuries" (p. 127). This book is a valuable contribution to the study of Eastern European and post-socialist Jewish life. Hofman does a laudable job of filling in our knowledge of the region. However, she misses opportunities to theorize key issues. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies Purdue University Press

Jews and Violence: Images, Ideologies, and Realities (review)

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Publisher
Purdue University Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Purdue University. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1534-5165
Publisher site
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Abstract

Hofman finally revisits the themes of cultural integration, hybridization, and intercultural background of Croatian Jews by discussing the novo-komonirari Zidovi (newly composed Jews) who frequent the ZOZ. She details how some of these men and women chose to recognize their Jewish ancestors in order to fashion contemporary Jewish identities. These are the "intercultural" Jews Hofman mentioned in the introduction, and she attributes the attraction they feel towards their Jewish heritage to symbolic essentialism--their heavy reliance on essentialized notions of identity, such as physical appearance and last names, to "feel connected to their cultural communities" (p. 5). She explores this intercultural theme further by detailing how these Croatian Jews have a "dual identity" because they "feel" as if they are both Croatian and Jewish. Hofman ends her book by commenting that "if there is a real crisis facing Croatian Jews it is the institutionalized disregard for the multiple and diverse versions of Jewish community life that have coexisted for centuries" (p. 127). This book is a valuable contribution to the study of Eastern European and post-socialist Jewish life. Hofman does a laudable job of filling in our knowledge of the region. However, she misses opportunities to theorize key issues.

Journal

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies – Purdue University Press

Published: Apr 26, 2007

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