《真正的犹太人:身份、文化和争取认可的斗争》作者:斯图尔特·z·查姆尔

Ken Koltun-Fromm
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Nowhere does Charmé decide matters of authenticity as he traces through a litany of modern Jewish texts and communities; instead he offers a framework for how to think well about claims to authenticity and the judgments we make about others who seek recognition for their Jewish practices. If some regard the notion of authenticity as an outdated and problematic term, Charmé appeals to a more nuanced, self-critical concept of authenticity that recognizes its cultural and political force. He draws upon his expertise in Sartrean existentialist philosophy to offer a thesis seeking to upend essentialist claims to authenticity by replacing them with nonessentialist, dynamic ones: “An authentically Jewish sense of self is always to some degree unstable and [End Page 483] unsettled. . . . Only in this way is it possible to transform an essentialist kind of genetic and cultural authenticity rooted only in the past into an existentialist one based on continually reaffirming the meaning of being a part of this group” (157). This “active dynamic sense of self” (157) is “a fluid process” (214) that requires “the forms of recognition that these constructions receive from others” (215). And so the subtitle to this work: claims to authenticity are (1) constructed out of fluid, nonfoundational identities and cultures, and (2) such claims seek out recognition from cultural authorities. Those who maintain essentialist views of authenticity—they all assume, Charmé argues, “some underlying core or solid foundation” (14)—will not be convinced by any of this. But for those struggling for recognition from outside or from within contemporary Jewry, Charmé’s text might read as a helpful scholarly approach that defends progressive models of authenticity. Essentialist claims arrive in two general forms: historical accounts that focus on “roots and origins” determined to be “old and uncorrupted” (11), and expressivist notions that “reflect or express something about their unique, innermost selves” (12). Both make claims to purity in some form that are decidedly nonfluid. These kinds of claims are generally taken up by “those who have successfully gained power and authority” in the Jewish community (15). Charmé has little sympathy for these reactionary types, in part because they act in bad faith: all essentialists actually “engage in their own reconstructions and revisions of tradition that include selectivity, innovation, reinvention, and transformation” (16). Charmé draws on Jean-Paul Sartre’s account of existentialist identity formation in order to bolster “a non-essentialist model that avoids some of the problematic and even toxic aspects of traditional historical and expressive authenticity” (17). This model has three components: (1) we all reside in an “existential situation” beyond our control, but (2) “the meaning of each element of a person’s historical, cultural, and personal situation remains open to revision, modification, and even rejection,” yet (3) claims to authenticity require recognition by others (25–26). This form of “existential authenticity,” one that Charmé defends as a “self-reflexive approach to the provisional and constructive creation of Jewish meaning that challenges the calm self-assurance with which Jews still present the essentialist authenticity of their beliefs and practices” (20), is the most flexible and expansive position. Note this illustrative analogy: “Like junk food, essentialist forms of authenticity taste good and are filling, but ultimately, they leave one weighed down with a weak and unhealthy identity resting on shaky foundations. Existential authenticity is more like yoga. 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引用次数: 0

摘要

书评:《真正的犹太人:身份、文化和争取认可的斗争》,作者:肯·科尔顿-弗洛姆·斯图尔特·查姆莫尔斯。真正的犹太人:身份、文化和争取认可的斗争。New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2022。斯图尔特·查姆尔(Stuart charm)深思熟虑的著作《真正的犹太人》(authentic Jewish)的标题读起来像是一种挑衅:“真正的犹太人”可能是什么意思?谁有权决定什么是真实的?我们如何识别其他人是真正的犹太人,或者更糟的是,不是真正的犹太人?如果读者在翻到第一页之前就把这些怀疑的问题记在心里,那么这个标题就已经完成了它的工作,因为charmore相信这些正是我们应该对犹太人的真实性问题采取的修辞立场。当他追溯现代犹太文本和社区时,没有任何地方决定真实性的问题;相反,他提供了一个框架,告诉我们如何好好思考对真实性的主张,以及我们对那些为自己的犹太习俗寻求认可的人所做的判断。如果有些人认为“真实性”这个概念已经过时,而且存在问题,那么《魅力》则提出了一种更微妙、更自我批判的“真实性”概念,承认其文化和政治力量。他利用自己在萨特存在主义哲学方面的专业知识,提出了一篇论文,试图通过用非本质主义的、动态的观点来取代本质主义对真实性的主张:“真正的犹太人的自我意识在某种程度上总是不稳定的,而且不稳定. . . .只有这样,才有可能将一种只植根于过去的本质主义的遗传和文化真实性转变为一种基于不断重申作为这个群体一部分的意义的存在主义真实性”(157)。这种“主动的动态自我意识”(157)是“一个流动的过程”(214),需要“这些结构从他人那里获得的认可形式”(215)。因此,这部作品的副标题是:对真实性的主张是(1)建立在流动的、非基础的身份和文化之上的,(2)这种主张寻求文化权威的认可。那些对真实性持本质主义观点的人——他们都假定,charm认为,“有一些潜在的核心或坚实的基础”(14)——不会被这些观点所说服。但对于那些努力争取得到外部或当代犹太人认可的人来说,《魅力》的文本可能会被解读为一种有益的学术方法,为进步的真实性模式辩护。本质主义的主张有两种一般形式:一种是专注于“根源和起源”的历史叙述,这种叙述被确定为“古老而纯洁”(11);另一种是表现主义的观念,这种观念“反映或表达了他们独特的、最内在的自我”(12)。两者都声称以某种形式的纯度是绝对不流动的。在犹太社区中,这种说法通常被“那些成功获得权力和权威的人”所接受(15)。charm对这些反动的类型几乎没有同情,部分原因是他们的行为是恶意的:所有本质主义者实际上都“从事他们自己对传统的重建和修正,包括选择、创新、再发明和改造”(16)。《魅力》借鉴了让-保罗·萨特(Jean-Paul Sartre)关于存在主义身份形成的描述,以支持“一种非本质主义的模式,这种模式避免了传统历史和表达真实性的一些有问题甚至有害的方面”(17)。这个模型有三个组成部分:(1)我们都生活在一个我们无法控制的“存在情境”中,但是(2)“一个人的历史、文化和个人情境的每个元素的意义都是开放的,可以修改、修改甚至拒绝的,”然而(3)声称的真实性需要得到他人的认可(25-26)。这种形式的“存在的真实性”,被charm捍卫为一种“对犹太人意义的临时和建设性创造的自我反思方法,挑战犹太人仍然表现其信仰和实践的本质主义真实性的冷静自信”(20),是最灵活和最广泛的立场。请注意这个说明性的类比:“就像垃圾食品一样,本质主义形式的真实性味道很好,而且很充实,但最终,它们会让人在摇摇欲坠的基础上,留下一种脆弱而不健康的身份。”存在的真实性更像是瑜伽。它需要找到暂时稳定的身份位置,但也要意识到这些位置不是无限期保持的。相反,我希望……
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Authentically Jewish: Identity, Culture, and the Struggle for Recognition by Stuart Z. Charmé (review)
Reviewed by: Authentically Jewish: Identity, Culture, and the Struggle for Recognition by Stuart Z. Charmé Ken Koltun-Fromm Stuart Z. Charmé. Authentically Jewish: Identity, Culture, and the Struggle for Recognition. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2022. 301 pp. The title to Stuart Charmé’s thoughtful book Authentically Jewish reads as provocation: What could “authentically Jewish” plausibly mean? Who commands the authority to decide what counts as authentic? And how do we recognize others as authentically or, even worse, inauthentically Jewish? If readers hold these skeptical questions in mind even before turning the first page, then the title has done its work, for Charmé believes these are precisely the rhetorical stances we should take toward the question of Jewish authenticity. Nowhere does Charmé decide matters of authenticity as he traces through a litany of modern Jewish texts and communities; instead he offers a framework for how to think well about claims to authenticity and the judgments we make about others who seek recognition for their Jewish practices. If some regard the notion of authenticity as an outdated and problematic term, Charmé appeals to a more nuanced, self-critical concept of authenticity that recognizes its cultural and political force. He draws upon his expertise in Sartrean existentialist philosophy to offer a thesis seeking to upend essentialist claims to authenticity by replacing them with nonessentialist, dynamic ones: “An authentically Jewish sense of self is always to some degree unstable and [End Page 483] unsettled. . . . Only in this way is it possible to transform an essentialist kind of genetic and cultural authenticity rooted only in the past into an existentialist one based on continually reaffirming the meaning of being a part of this group” (157). This “active dynamic sense of self” (157) is “a fluid process” (214) that requires “the forms of recognition that these constructions receive from others” (215). And so the subtitle to this work: claims to authenticity are (1) constructed out of fluid, nonfoundational identities and cultures, and (2) such claims seek out recognition from cultural authorities. Those who maintain essentialist views of authenticity—they all assume, Charmé argues, “some underlying core or solid foundation” (14)—will not be convinced by any of this. But for those struggling for recognition from outside or from within contemporary Jewry, Charmé’s text might read as a helpful scholarly approach that defends progressive models of authenticity. Essentialist claims arrive in two general forms: historical accounts that focus on “roots and origins” determined to be “old and uncorrupted” (11), and expressivist notions that “reflect or express something about their unique, innermost selves” (12). Both make claims to purity in some form that are decidedly nonfluid. These kinds of claims are generally taken up by “those who have successfully gained power and authority” in the Jewish community (15). Charmé has little sympathy for these reactionary types, in part because they act in bad faith: all essentialists actually “engage in their own reconstructions and revisions of tradition that include selectivity, innovation, reinvention, and transformation” (16). Charmé draws on Jean-Paul Sartre’s account of existentialist identity formation in order to bolster “a non-essentialist model that avoids some of the problematic and even toxic aspects of traditional historical and expressive authenticity” (17). This model has three components: (1) we all reside in an “existential situation” beyond our control, but (2) “the meaning of each element of a person’s historical, cultural, and personal situation remains open to revision, modification, and even rejection,” yet (3) claims to authenticity require recognition by others (25–26). This form of “existential authenticity,” one that Charmé defends as a “self-reflexive approach to the provisional and constructive creation of Jewish meaning that challenges the calm self-assurance with which Jews still present the essentialist authenticity of their beliefs and practices” (20), is the most flexible and expansive position. Note this illustrative analogy: “Like junk food, essentialist forms of authenticity taste good and are filling, but ultimately, they leave one weighed down with a weak and unhealthy identity resting on shaky foundations. Existential authenticity is more like yoga. It requires finding identity positions of temporary stability but also realizing that they are not meant to be held indefinitely. On the contrary, hopefully...
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