Dara Horn – A New Voice in Contemporary Jewish American Fiction
Keywords:
Jewish American fiction, Dara Horn, The World to Come, Marc Chagall, multilayered narrative, family roots, antisemitism, JewishnessAbstract
This essay introduces the contemporary Jewish American novelist Dara Horn. It concentrates on her second novel The World to Come, published in 2006. In this novel, in which Horn mixes various genres, we follow the mysterious story of the Ziskind family from Russia to America. The family history is seen through the history of a Marc Chagall painting that once accompanied the life of the protagonist Benjamin Ziskind. This essay attempts to present Dara Horn as an author with a deep knowledge of the history, culture, and religion of the Jewish people.
References
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Gladstone, Julie. “Over Vitebsk: A Marc Chagall Stolen.” [accessed 16 September, 2008], available at: <http://www.chagallpaintings.org/article3-overvitebsk.html>.
Horn, Dara. The World to Come. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.
Kushner, Tony. “Antisemitism.” A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies. In: David T. Goldberg and John Solomons (eds.). Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 2002. 64-72.
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“The World to Come, a novel by Dara Horn.” [accessed 16 September, 2008], available at: <http://www.darahorn.com/about_wtc.htm>.
