Juggling identities [[electronic resource] ] : identity and authenticity among the Crypto-Jews / / Seth D. Kunin

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910452564603321
• Autore: Kunin Seth Daniel
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, : Columbia University Press, c2009
• ISBN: 0-231-51257-0
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (289 p.)
• Disciplina: 305.892/40789
• Soggetti: Crypto-Jews - New Mexico - History; Jews - New Mexico - History; Jews - New Mexico - Identity; Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- One. Diversity and Complexity -- Two. The Case Against the Authenticity of Crypto- Judaism in New Mexico -- Three. The Case for the Authenticity of Crypto- Judaism in New Mexico -- Four. Ideal Types of Crypto- Jewish Identity -- Five. Crypto- Jewish Practice -- Six. A Postmodern Take on Crypto- Judaism -- Conclusion -- Theoretical Appendix. (Neo)- Structuralism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Juggling Identities is an extensive ethnography of the crypto-Jews who live deep within the Hispanic communities of the American Southwest. Critiquing scholars who challenge the cultural authenticity of these individuals, Seth D. Kunin builds a solid link between the crypto-Jews of New Mexico and their Spanish ancestors who secretly maintained their Jewish identity after converting to Catholicism, offering the strongest evidence yet of their ethnic and religious origins. Kunin adopts a unique approach to the lives of modern crypto-Jews, concentrating primarily on their understanding of Jewish tradition and the meaning they ascribe to ritual. He illuminates the complexity of this community, in which individuals and groups perform the same practice in diverse ways. Kunin supplements his ethnographic research with broader theories concerning the nature of identity and memory, which ; is especially applicable to crypto-Jews, whose culture resides mainly in memory. Kunin's work has wider implications, not only for other forms of crypto-Judaism (such as that found in the former Soviet Union) but also for the study of Judaism's fluid nature, which helps adherents adapt to new circumstances and knowledge. Kunin draws fascinating comparisons between the intricate ancestry of crypto-Jews and those of other ethnic communities living in the United States.