When it comes to Jewish humor, self-mockery is not new. Sanford Pinsker argues that Ibn Ezra, the 12th century Rabbi and Torah commentator, used self-mockery to epitomize the comedic state of exile (in general) and the schlemiel (in particular). Self-mockery is found in the classic joke about the schlemiel, the schlimazel, and the nudnik. One […]
Today, on his Facebook page, Gary Shteyngart announced that he is a “nebbish no more” since “The Forward puts me in its Top Five of 2014 list, where I’m the only sort-of-male listed.” The only “sort-of-male” is another name for the schlemiel, the man-child. He is, in other words, the only schlemiel on the list. […]
Ok. Its good to know what someone is doing, but when is too much…too much? And what happens when what he or she is saying is not particularly that insightful? When it comes to the schlemiel, there is a limit. Every good writer knows that. Overkill doesn’t do the schlemiel well. This is what I […]
When I first came across Robert Crumb’s depiction of Jewish grandparents in the first issue of his Snoid Comics project, I was surprised by the juxtaposition he posed between the big grand-daughter and the small Jewish grand-parents. It didn’t seem possible that such a big Jewish American woman could come from such small grand parents. […]
Near the end of his life, Leslie Fiedler, the celebrated (or is it notorious – Irving Howe – one of the greatest voices in post-WWII literary criticism – thought of Fiedler as a charlatan) Jewish-American literary critic decided to write a book that spoke to his guilt for having been complicit in power. In What […]
Noah Baumbach has a penchant for contrasting the young and the old, the naïve and the shrewd, the ethical person and the thief. Many of his characters are immature and, at an older age, seem caught up in a life that they haven’t grown out of. They are dreamers and schlemiels. For instance, in a […]
One of the major tasks of the modern Enlightenment project is to “demythologize.” As a part of this project all types of myths are challenged. They need not be changed by science, the humanities, and psychology, however. The greatest battling ground for challenging mythology may be in the medium that is used to convey myth; […]
After the Holocaust, different scholars and journalists have debated over whether the schlemiel is dead or should live on. Regardless of the debate, however, it is evident that the character has lived on whether in literature or film. One need only go to the movie theater to see the film Neighbors to see this or […]
Unlike any author in Jewish-American or Yiddish literature, Bernard Malamud closely traces the process of a non-Jewish character’s becoming-a-Jew. But what makes Malamud’s treatment so fascinating and thought provoking is the fact that Frank, an Italian-American character who becomes a Jew, is that Frank is inspired to become Jewish by virtue of a schlemiel. His […]
One of the most important things about Frank is his timing. To be sure, Frank comes out of nowhere. But he does so after Bober is held-up, beaten with a gun, and hospitalized. He comes, like a Saint, to assist him. However, as a reader, one cannot help but wonder if Frank, who is described […]
Schlemiel Theory 