Renewed Survival: Jewish Community Life in Croatia

by Nila Ginger Hofman DePaul University

Overview

Renewed Survival is an ethno-historic account of Jewish community life in Croatia. It traces the community's turbulent history from its inception in the late eighteenth century to the shifting political climate of the 1990s following the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Croatia's separation from Yugoslavia is explored ethnographically by examining the lives of the members of a small community of largely intercultural Jews. Particular attention is paid to the impact of local and transnational cultural changes during this period, wherein Jewish community life in Croatia became the focus of a number of institutional forces such as market capitalism, government-sponsored diversity campaigns, and transnational identity politics (the post-communist 'meaning makers' of Jewish identity). By exploring the multiple strategies employed by Croatian Jews in refashioning their identities, this work challenges both the nostalgic image of a thriving presence of Jewish culture in Croatia as well as the (more prominent) view that Jewish communities in Croatia are on the brink of extinction. The author suggests that the latter view-the 'disappearance thesis'-is belied by the experiences of many Croatian Jews, who continue to derive meaning from Jewish community life, notwithstanding their lack of religious commitment and cultural hybridization. This informative study will be of interest to scholars of Jewish Studies, Anthropology, and History.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739113301
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	12/08/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.48(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Nila Ginger Hofman is assistant professor of anthropology at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Preface Chapter 2 Introduction Chapter 3 Tracing the Meaning of Two Hundred Years of Jewish Community Life Chapter 4 The Rebirth of the Cultural Community: How Croatian Jews Derive Meaning From the Collapse of Communism Chapter 5 Institutions of Meaning Chapter 6 Forward and Back: The Traditionalist and Integrationist Debates Chapter 7 Who's Jewish, and Who Gets to Decide? Chapter 8 Contested Local and Transnational Meanings Chapter 9 Concluding Thoughts Chapter 10 Glossary

Editorial Reviews

With Renewed Survival, Nila Hofman contributes greatly to our growing understanding of the revival of Jewish identity in the late twentieth century. The voices of Croatia's intercultural Jews can now be heard as part of a pan-European chorus.

Matti Bunzl

A rich account of how Croatian 'intercultural' Jews have claimed their Jewish heritage, ever mindful of the past and with clear reference to present day post-socialist upheavals, namely the adoption of a free market economy and the increase of 'exclusivist-nationalist political rhetoric' in the public sphere...A valuable contribution to the study of Eastern European and post-socialist Jewish life...Highly appropriate for historians, anthropologists, and those in the general public who are interested in knowing more about Jews in Croatia.

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies

Nila Hofman's insightful and timely anthropological study of the Jewish community of Zagreb makes an important contribution to our understanding of Jewish identity emerging in the post-communist era. Renewed Survival's engaging analysis thoughtfully reveals the complexities faced by this small but lively Croatian community in its efforts to construct Jewish meaning in the context of multiple internal and external tensions.

Frida Kerner Furman

A rich account of how Croatian 'intercultural' Jews have claimed their Jewish heritage, ever mindful of the past and with clear reference to present day post-socialist upheavals, namely the adoption of a free market economy and the increase of 'exclusivist-nationalist political rhetoric' in the public sphere...A valuable contribution to the study of Eastern European and post-socialist Jewish life...Highly appropriate for historians, anthropologists, and those in the general public who are interested in knowing more about Jews in Croatia.

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies