Author(s): Dr. Prerna Malhotra

Abstract: The much-eventful twentieth century is often termed as ‘the American Century’ due to the American pervasiveness in the global affairs. The Americanness is present through American arts, culture and literature written during the end of the 19th century to most part of the 20th century. The experience of two world wars, the cold war, the beginning of the nuclear arms race, the realisation of the struggle for national liberty by the colonised world and lack of socio-political consensus within nations everywhere have had a direct impact on the literature during this period. Phrases , like modernism, war literature, post-modernism, existentialism and surrealism, etc. have been used in view of the attributes assigned to various traditions of literature. Themes too have covered the breadth and depth of multiculturalism and diversity. Voices unheard till now started coming in the form of ethnic literature, Black literature and literature by natives. It is in this context that this article tries to analyse the tradition of American Jewish writings.

Keywords: Canon, Modern, Post-modern, American Literature, Jewish literature, Commonwealth literature, Genre, World cultures.

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.4438