Feminist Dybbuks: Spirit Possession Motif in Post-Second Wave Jewish Women's Fiction

Abstract

In this essay, the author examines several innovative explorations and imaginative variations on the theme of spirit possession in contemporary Jewish women's fiction. After a brief overview of the dybbuk possession phenomenon and S. An-sky's well-known play The Dybbuk or Between Two Worlds, the author does a comparative analysis presenting the motif of dybbuk and spirit possession in E. M. Broner's A Weave of Women, Francine Prose's Hungry Hearts, Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound by Judith Katz, The Dyke and the Dybbuk by Ellen Galford, The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham, and The Road to Fez by Ruth Knafo Setton. Legutko finds women writers place the emphasis on the possessed person and not only on the dybbuk, while the exorcist—the significant focus of the male narratives—is relegated to a secondary role. Feminist dybbuk stories address issues such as arranged marriage, sexual difference, domestic violence, or mother-daughter relationships, while the religious aspects of possession are no longer of primary concern. Finally, Jewish women writers make a great use of humor in the dybbuk narratives.