Browsing by Author "Peter D. Mathews"

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    (英語學系, 2020-03-??) Peter D. Mathews
    The ambivalence at the heart of Rachel Kadish’s third novel, The Weight of Ink(2017), comes from the tension between Kadish’s exploration of Jewish identity,on the one hand, and her position as a feminist on the other. Kadish thus usesthe form of the historical novel to critique patriarchal traditions in Jewishculture that exclude women from the domain of scholarship and philosophicalthought. The Weight of Ink weaves a complex narrative contrasting the life of atwenty-first-century historian, Helen Watt, to the fierce intellect of EsterVelazquez, a female scribe from the seventeenth century, who is forced todevelop her philosophy secretly under a series of male pseudonyms. This essaystarts out by examining the delicate balance required for this kind of culturalcritique, for while Kadish excoriates the past ill-treatment of women andhomosexuals, she nonetheless is also clearly proud of her identity as a Jewishwoman. The second section of this paper looks at the extent to which Kadishlaunches a successful feminist analysis of Jewish culture and traditions. Herstrongest points come when she turns the logic of this tradition back on itself:the very existence of Ester’s intellect or Alvaro’s homosexuality, she argues,are proof that such things are ordained by divine will rather than itscontradiction. The conclusion of the paper explores the limitations of Kadish’sapproach, focusing in particular on the way she creates a biological tie betweenEster and Shakespeare. This narrative twist appropriates Ester to the realm ofthe patriarchal law, encapsulating the irresolvable tension between Kadish’sJewishness and her feminist politics.