The Last of the Just: An Untimely Novel for our Times

Stonebridge, Lyndsey (2014) The Last of the Just: An Untimely Novel for our Times. European Judaism, 47 (1). pp. 26-40. ISSN 0014-3006

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Abstract

André Schwarz-Bart's The Last of the Just has been both loved and vilified for its evocation of the timelessness of Jewish suffering. This article argues that what is timeless about The Last of the Just is not just its commitment to the longue durée of unrelieved sorrow, but something more uncomfortable and disturbing. Running alongside the novel's lachrymal mysticism is a very contemporary story about how modern racist violence produces a particular kind of misery, a uniquely oppressive, implacable, psychical and historical suffering that isolates its victims, whether individually or as a group. In Schwarz-Bart's writing, understanding this suffering means recognizing its difficult and complicated universalism.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Migration Research Network
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	20 Jan 2015 11:14
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2021 02:26
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/51349
DOI:	10.3167/ej.2014.47.01.05

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