Jewish Women Writers in the Soviet Union, 2011 (English)

Jewish Women Writers in the Soviet Union, London: Routledge Publishing House, 2011. (English) This book presents the lives and works of eleven Jewish women authors who lived in the Soviet Union, wrote and published their works in Russian and Yiddish. Their works include poems, novels, memoirs, and existential thoughts. The book focuses on four areas: the personal life of each author, which was often conducted under the shadow of Stalin's rule, pogroms, and political prosecutions; the literary content of the works, including a broad spectrum of movements and styles; the understanding by each author of her “feminine” self; and the author’s perception of her “Jewish” self. The attitude towards Judaism is split: on the one hand, Judaism is perceived as a symbol of family warmth but on the other, it is seen as a source of fear of possible harm from anti-Semitism. The names of the authors presented here are: Alexandra Brushtein, Elizaveta Polonskaia, Raisa Bloch, Hannah Levina, Ol'ga Ziv, Yulia Neiman, Rahil’ Baumwohl’, Margarita Aliger, Sarah Levina-Kul’neva, Sarah Pogreb, and Zinaida Mirkina.