Film as a Source of Historical Knowledge: Jews in American Society and Film of the 20th Century
Zbigniew Lewicki
kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.plCardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw (Poland)
Abstract
The article deals with the question of film as a source of historical knowledge using the example of how Jews were treated in American society in the 20th century and how this was reflected in films. His analysis suggests that there is a clear correlation between historical events of this period and the frequency and manner of portraying the dilemmas of the religiously and culturally separate Jewish minority in the United States. But this is not a one-sided relationship, as films not only reflected this social issue, but also influenced American attitudes towards the Jewish minority. Although the question of the role played by films in historiography requires further, wider investigations, the article clearly shows that with certain caution, films can be treated as a source of historical knowledge, and especially on the social attitudes of the era.
Keywords:
Jews, American Jews, American historical cinemaReferences
Baumach, Jonathan. The Landscapes of Nightmare. London: Peter Owen, 1965.
Google Scholar
Cohen, Elliot E. Letter to the Movie-Makers: The Film Drama as a Social Force. „Commentary” August (1947)
Google Scholar
Doneson, Judith E. The Holocaust in American Film. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002.
Google Scholar
Ferro, Marc. Cinema as History. tłum. Naomi Greene. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1988.
Google Scholar
Fiedler, Leslie. Love and Death in the American Novel. New York: Criterion Books, 1960.
Google Scholar
Glazer, Nathan, Daniel P. Moynihan. Beyond the Melting Pot. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1970.
Google Scholar
Goldberg, Jeffrey. Hollywood’s Jewish Avenger. „The Atlantic” September (2009).
Google Scholar
Goldman, Eric A. American Jewish Story Through Cinema. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013.
Google Scholar
Griffin, Patrick. Film. Document, and the Historian. „Film and History” vol. 2/2 (1972)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/flm.1972.a487419
Google Scholar
Horne, Gerald. Class Struggle in Hollywood. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001.
Google Scholar
Hughes, William. The Evaluation of Film as Evidence. W: The Historian and Film, red. P. Smith, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511896910.005
Google Scholar
Huxley, Aldous. Complete Essays. Chicago, 2000.
Google Scholar
Kassel, Michael. The American Jewish Immigrant Family in Film and History. „Film and History” 26/1-4 (1996).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/flm.1996.a395957
Google Scholar
Kosowska, Ewa. Antropologia literatury. Teksty, konteksty, interpretacje. Katowice: WUŚ, 2003.
Google Scholar
Kosowska, Ewa. Kulturowa antropologia literatury. Wprowadzenie. W: Antropologia kultury – antropologia literatury. Na tropach koligacji. red. E. Kosowska i inni. Katowice: WUŚ, 2007.
Google Scholar
Loukides, P., L. K. Fuller. Beyond the Stars. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1996.
Google Scholar
Matuszewski, Bolesław. Nowe źródło Historii. tłum. Bolesław Michałek. W: Nowe źródło historii. Warszawa: Filmoteka Narodowa, 1995.
Google Scholar
Meltzer, Milton. Remember the Days; A Short History of the Jewish American. Garden City: Zenith Books, 1974.
Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur. Focus. New York: Penguin, 2001.
Google Scholar
Ossowski, J. S. O antropologii literatury uwag kilka. W: Antropologia kultury – antropologia literatury. Na tropach koligacji. red. E. Kosowska. Katowice: WUŚ, 2007.
Google Scholar
Picart, Caroline Joan S., David A. Frank. Frames of Evil. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006.
Google Scholar
Popkin, Henry. The Vanishing Jew of Our Popular Culture. „Commentary” July (1952).
Google Scholar
Quart, Leonard, Albert Auster. American Film and Society Since 1945. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2011.
Google Scholar
Raths, L. E., Frank N. Trager. Public Opinion and Crossfire. „Journal of Educational Sociology” 21 (1948)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2263675
Google Scholar
Rollins, Peter C. Hollywood as Historian. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Google Scholar
Rosenstone, Robert A. History on Film/Film on History. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2012.
Google Scholar
Rosten, Leo C. Hollywood: The Movie Colony, The Movie Makers. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1941.
Google Scholar
Selznick, G. J., S. Steinberg. The Tenacity of Prejudice. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.
Google Scholar
Small, Melvin. Some Problems for Historians. „Film and History” vol. 2/1 (1972).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/flm.1972.a486627
Google Scholar
Authors
Zbigniew Lewickikwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw Poland
Amerykanista, profesor; kierownik Katedry Amerykanistyki na Uniwersytecie Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego. Autor wielotomowej Historii cywilizacji amerykańskiej, a także licznych publikacji, przede wszystkim z zakresu polityki i kultury Stanów Zjednoczonych.
Statistics
Abstract views: 41PDF downloads: 24
License
Copyright (c) 2016 Zbigniew Lewicki
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author grants the publisher a royalty-free non-exclusive licence (CC BY 4.0) to use the article in Kwartalnik Filmowy, retains full copyright, and agrees to identify the work as first having been published in Kwartalnik Filmowy should it be published or used again (download licence agreement). The journal is published under the CC BY 4.0 licence. By submitting an article, the author agrees to make it available under this licence.
In issues from 105-106 (2019) to 119 (2022) all articles were published under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. During this period the authors granted a royalty-free non-exclusive licence (CC BY-ND 4.0) to use their article in „Kwartalnik Filmowy”, retained full copyright, and agreed to identify the work as first having been published in our journal should it be published or used again.
