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Abstract
This dissertation explores the fiction written by Jewish American authors from 1896–1930. Drawing on Werner Sollors' ideas on the invention of ethnicity, and the work of historians like Gerald Sorin and Moses Rischin, this work argues that Jewish American writers of fiction from the first decades of the twentieth century participated in a re-invention of Jewish ethnicity for modern America. Writers such as Abraham Cahan, Anzia Yezierska, Sidney Nyburg, and Ludwig Lewisohn portray the discovery of new kinds of Jewish-ness for the modern world. All of these practices have their roots in one or another tradition within Judaism, but they would now serve as the central modes for a new Jewish ethnic identity. This literature helped define what being Jewish American meant at this period in history. Moreover, these re-inventions of Jewish ethnic identity have influenced all subsequent interpretations of American Jewishness to this day.
