The Concept of Jewishness in Howard Jacobson's The Finkler Question

This thesis focuses on the contemporary Anglo-Jewish Literature and its recent revival. Its main aim is to explain the concept of Jewishness as it is described by Howard Jacobson in his novel The Finkler Question. It consists of two parts, theoretical and practical. The first part provides background information on the history of the Jewish minority in Britain and its current position within the British society, it also describes the two basic Jewish literary types which occurs in the works of non-Jewish authors and compares Jewish literatures in Britain and America. The second part analyses the text itself. It focuses on the perspective which the author uses to show his view on the question of Jewish identity, compares the point of view of the Jewish and the non-Jewish characters. It also describes how Jacobson works with stereotypes, what role Judaism plays in the novel and what anti-Semitic issues are mentioned in the book