pedagogika. Representations of Jewish people in Canadian literature of the 1940s and 1950s

Introduction This dissertation will examine Jewish Diasporic experience in Canada during the 1940s and 1950s, through literature of travel and exploration and life writing as well as through fi ction writt en by Jewish and non-Jewish writers. My project will involve Canadian Jewish cultural history, close textual analysis, comparative study and theoretical work, as I explore diff erences and similarities in these representations. Henry Kreisel presents a horrifi c picture of the Jewish society aff ected by the pogroms, which cannot fi nd its own place in the world. Th at is why all of the stories are representations of people who are in a constant search for their own home, culture, tradition and faith all set against a vibrant aspect of Jewish Diaspora. Th ey are examples of both travel writing and life writing. His writing was profoundly based on his own life in which his main occupation became the investigation of notions of home and homelessness. Miriam Waddington also represents the life writing genre. In contrast to Kreisel her writing gives the reader an insight into her childhood, growing up and adulthood. Th rough readings of her essays we can notice the notion of cultural hybridity. Living in between cultures provoked her to fi nd her own tiny space where she felt free to be herself and express her own identity. Th is private space gave her a diff erent insight into the notions of her life, her background and helped her to accept and express her triple identity, as a Jewish, Russian and Canadian female poet-writer. Gwethalyn Graham based her novel on her observations of Anti-Semitism in Canada and Europe. Th rough irony she presents strong criticism of racial inequality in which Jewish people have to live. Th anks to diff erent narrations the reader is introduced to various points of view on Jews in Canada and is able to make his own statement on stereotyping and labelling them. Th e plot also refl ects some of the elements of the author’s life, where in fact she had a relationship with a Polish Jew. We are also introduced to the novel by Adele Wiseman, in which she gives a realistic description of the life of a Jewish-Ukrainian family in Winnipeg. In her story we notice lack of social mobility of the characters due to their immigrant origin. Th eir lives are full of alienation, exile and displacement. Th e novel is a perfect example of how life writing and travel writing come together. All of the diasporic writers try to create their own space, in between cultures, where they can be themselves and be free to present their cultural hybridity.