The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1920-12-29
Jewish Types in Ameri-
can Fiction
GENERAL SURVEY OF THIS FIELD
OF LITERATURE.
GENERAL SURVEY.
BY EBERT AIDLINE-TROMM
lCopyright. 1920. by l. ]. L. b

Like Gentle. like Jews a pretty
good paraphrase of the old saying
"Wie es christelt sich. so auch
juedelt sich." which In this instance
l would interpret by saying that
America being young country, Its
general literature in the English Ian
guage is young and. consequently, not
rich in Jewish types.
Being young has its good points as
well as its disadvantages. particularly
if it is country that happens to be
enjoying the spring of life. To my
mind. a young country is like an over
grown boy. still in knickerbockers, yet
with n craving, in every fibre OF his
strong. impetuous being for the long
trousers of an adult. Our literature,
likewise has not yet quite left the
garb of youth, nor dOnned the raiment
of mature age. In other words, our
literature and especially our fiction
are still in stage of adolescence.
And adolescence is the dangerous
transition age, dangerous on account
of its aspiratio which result-alas--
in very insignificant accomplishments.
That is why American fiction, which
is comparatively poor In works OF
lasting value. contains even smaller
proportion of worth while novels or
stories dealing directly or indirectly
with Jewish life.
And that is why. before going ahead.
It would be well to survey the Jewish
situntion. If snci It may be termed, In
this country. In my opinion. Jewish
life, as such, in America began only
with the commencement of u large
scale immigration from Eastern ana,
partly. Central Europe. I do not mean
to imply that there had not been Jews
worth while in America before the
sixties or seventies of the last century,
but do purport to say that up to that
period the Jews in America had been
beth, s.HIl In numbers--aiths- By no
means insignificant in the countryr
life-and of u type more or less cas-
ily sssimilable. 1t was only with the
advent Of the later day immigrant
from Russia, Poland, Roumnnia and
Galicia that the Jewish question, ut
least from a literary point of view, be-
gan In America. And the Jewish ques
tion. the most important aspect OF II.
IL the problem of how the Jew gets
along with his Gentle neighbors their
attitude toward one another, their
likes or dislikes and their views and
actions with regard to intermarriage.
OF all European countries, the Rus
sian Jew has been more frequently
and more ably represented In his coun-
try's literature than in any other land,
and for II very weighty and simple
reason-the Russian Jew had dwelt
side by side with his Gentle neigh
bors for centuries and 1t was only nat
ural that the strongly realistic Rus
sian literature should turn its atten-
lion to the Jewish problem. to the re-
lations between Jew md Gentle. and
there is hardly Russian novel. short
story. or play written during the last
twenty or thirty years that does not
portray one or more Jewish characters.
1t is also worthy of note that not on
iy have these characters beea depicted
by Jewish-Russian writer's but that
even larger number are to be found
In the works of non-Jewish authors.
The history of Jewish types III
American fiction. Is quite different,
because 1t was only after the first I'M
migrants from Eastern Europe settled
here that they began to be noticed and
at first served as subjects Of hilari-
Gus entertainment. America, like the
cvergrown hoy in nknickerbockers. cared
but little for the soul of these new
comers. for the treasures chat lay hid
den in their hearts and saw only the
bizarre. the ridiculous, the outlandish
or. rather, the different. Young
America saw only the foreign dress
(Continu,d on Page Two.l