Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy Through 1945: Immigrants in the Golden Age

 


Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy Through 1945: Immigrants in the Golden Age by Valerie Estelle Frankel (Lexington Books, 2021)

Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

This book presents an interesting kaleidoscope of Jewish contributions to the genres of science fiction and fantasy, starting with the late nineteenth century through the end of World War II. It is presented like an academic study, but is actually quite readable for a lay audience as well. Alongside the more obvious names like Franz Kafka, Isaac Asimov, and Shalom Aleichem are some less apparent authors who contributed to this field, like Theodore Herzl and Jerry Seigel. The book cites many earlier scholars who researched this topic and brings together all sorts of thought-provoking insights as to how Jew contributed to the literary fields of science fiction/fantasy in various artistic media (including short stories, books, comics, graphic novels, silent films, and talkies).

The first few chapters of this book focus on providing the reader with synopses of various short stories and other collections written by Jews that represent the experimental stage of the genres in question, i.e., before they had become mainstream reading. Part of these chapters focus on the so-called Futurists who wrote fantastical stories about a time unlike their own. As the author makes clear, these Jewish writers were clearly influenced by earlier secondary Jewish literature/beliefs that included stories about such things as the Dyybuk, the Golem, and assorted tales about King Solomon.

Later chapters explore how Jews’ writing in fantasy related to Nazism, Zionism, humor, and the like. In the lead-up to World War II and during the dark years of the Holocaust, some Jewish writers and those who sympathized with the Jewish plight used harnessed the power of fantasy and science fiction to produce anti-Nazi propaganda and affect public opinion.

This book also discusses famous Jews in the early movie industry including the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, and Charlie Chaplin (who was not Jewish himself, but certainly commiserated with the Jews), as well as the individuals involved in comic book industry in its earliest years.

Various literary motifs that this book shows were heavily influenced and established by Jewish writers include time travel, alternate histories, utopia/dystopia, and—of course comedy.

Another important Jewish theme that the author shows is omnipresent in the works of early fantasy and science fiction is the notion of assimilation versus tradition. Many Jews involved in writing or producing works of fantasy immigrated to America from the Old Country, and in some ways were eager to shed their Old-World identities and adopt new ones. Yet, on the other hand, they were often proud to be Jewish and wanted to express their Jewishness in some way. In practice, many of these immigrants changed their names to give off the appearance of being more American, but still used Jewish themes and ideas in their actual works. Indeed, this tension also often led to the covert expressions of Jewish ideals and concepts in the works of early fantasy writers, without the need to explicitly label characters in their works as Jewish.

Case in point: Superman represents the quintessential superhero of this genre, and like many Jews in America at the time, he too came from a faraway, strange land, but adopted a thoroughly American identity in the form of Clark Kent to blend in with his newfound home. Of course, Superman was the creation of Jewish fantasy writers, and his aboriginal Kryptonian name Kal-El even has a Semitic ring to it. In fact, this book cites a witty observation from another scholar who noted that anyone whose name ends in “-man” is either Jewish (e.g., Grossman, Goldman, Lieberman) or a superhero (e.g., Superman, Batman, Spiderman).

In final analysis, this reviewer feels that the book was a fun read. It was generally easy to follow the author’s arguments and, all in all, was an easy read. Although in this reviewer’s opinion the book could have benefitted from more editing, Ms. Frankel’s author biography boasts an impressive “over eighty books on pop culture.” Besides the sources she cited in the body text of the book, the author also provides the reader with a comprehensive bibliography that contain many more related sources, should the reader choose to pursue further examining the topic. Indeed, once the reader whets his appetite with Ms. Frankel’s book, he or she might want to learn more about the Jews’ place in forming the modern genres of fantasy and science fiction.