CFP: Jewish Material Culture

From a call for papers posted to H-Material Culture:

Jews at Home: The Domestivation of Identity

Second volume in book series on Jewish Cultural Studies, edited by Simon J. Bronner, Distinguished University Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, USA

Publisher: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford, UK.

Format and Guidelines: 8,000-12,000 word essays in English, prepared electronically in Word (in-text citations with reference list). Photographs in TIF format (min. 300 dpi).

Deadline: March 15, 2007

Contact: Professor Simon J. Bronner, School of Humanities, The Pennsylvania State University, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057-4898, USA, sbronner@psu.edu

Papers are sought that explore how Jews conceptualize and culturally materialize spaces, and ideas of home. The editorial board is especially looking for interpretations of private selves and collectives of Jews constructing a Jewishness distinctive from that expressed in the synagogue and street. The volume addresses issues of domestication that is both imposed from the outside because of societal repression of Jewishness, and that which is displayed and invented to announce, differentiate, and renew Jewish identity. For example, contributions can open critical inquiry into display and use of Judaica in homes, secular performances of Jewishness in the home, private constructions and performances of Jewishness in repressive situations, symbolism of the Syrian Jewish housefront in mixed ethnic Jewish areas, adjustment of urban dwellings for Hasidic families, symbolism of holiday celebrations at home, emergence of the Jewish practice of kosher in the home and non-kosher outside the home, differences in ethnic home decoration, home dress, and socialization pattern in different Jewish cultures.

The purpose of the series is to present thematic volumes interpreting Jewish cultures ethnographically and historically around the globe, and exploring the idea of Jewish culture as it has been constructed, symbolized, produced, communicated, and consumed in diverse contexts. Themes of volumes will be interdisciplinary, drawing particularly on research in folklore studies, anthropology, cultural history, and sociology. Volumes typically contain ten to twelve essays of 8-12,000 words anchored by an introduction addressing the theme, and a section (usually 3 or 4 essays) called New Views of original research on Jewish cultural studies not on the theme. See http://www.littman.co.uk/jcs/index.html. Unlike most publications in Jewish studies, the Jewish cultural studies series will be exploring secular as well as religious spheres, and the intersections of the two, with attention to the diversity of traditions and customs in the Jewish world. For more information, and a list of editorial board members, see http://afsnet.org/sections/jewish/.