The Object of Jewish Literature

The Object of Jewish Literature explores a history of modern Jewish literature that delves into our enduring attachment to the book as an object.

With the rise of digital media, the "death of the book" has been widely discussed. However, the physical object of the book persists. Through the lens of materiality and objects, Barbara E. Mann presents a history of modern Jewish literature, encompassing novels, poetry, graphic novels, and artists’ books.

By bringing contemporary work on secularism and design into conversation with literary history, she offers a new and distinctive frame for understanding how literary genres emerge.

The long twentieth century, a period marked by tremendous physical upheaval and geographic movement, saw the production of a multilingual canon of writing by Jewish authors. The objecthood of literature is felt not only in the physical qualities of books—bindings, covers, typography, illustrations—but also through the ways in which materiality itself became a practical foundation for literary expression.