A
Charges Media Fields Flied VVRi Virus of Anti-Senitism
book's title must not be pre-
judged. The late Sig- who
died -last Jidir -just as his book
was about to, go to Press. and as
he was to rideive :PhD front
the New School_ Social Re
search—in 'his _bObk ""The Comic
Image of the Jew;" published by
Fairleigh - Dickinson - -University
Press, -uses the humorous refer-
ence as an indication of the ex-
tent of anti-Semitism in many com-
municative spheres.
While exception can -be taken to
some of his conclusions, it is nee-
essftry to read the -book in its en-
tirety to realize the' extent of the
author's research, the mass of
reading done by him, to appre-
ciate the labori 'that went into
its -making.
Actually, the author showed that
the "comic image" provided an
avenue for anti-Semitism in films,
on radio, over television, in books,
magazines, the press, —as ve-
hicles for anti-Semites.
,
His background material, the
role-hunior plays in Jewish We,
formed a valuable addendum to
these studies. He did delve into
the Bible and Talmud sources for
material for his study. And he
also researched the accumulated
sources that show forms of anti-
Semitism among Jew-baiters in
many lands, quoting from -some
of the- banal stories that have
Created the stage Jew. In this
respect, he also exposed the role
of the Jewish stage characters
who contributed toward hatred of
• Jews.
It is the initial introductory and
explanatory note that will be ques-
tioned in Sig Altman's studies. He
stated in introducing his book:
"This study was prompted, or at
least triggered, by a fleeting inci-
dent witnessed some time in the
late '60s on a televisaion "talk"
show. An interviewee, in the course
of a totally, serious discussion,
made the quite serious remark,
'I looked it up in the Jewish En-
cyclopedia.' There immediately
followed a burst of laughter from
the studio audience, which obvi-
ously sensed a joke about to ma-
terialize, or perhaps saw one al-
ready born. The laughter rather
suddenly subsided, however, as the
collective realization apparently
dawned that no joke was in fact
intended at all. Nevertheless, the
comic quality of the word 'Jewish'
in the public consciousness had
been perfectly demonstrated."
Must this be accepted as a true
judgment of non-Jewish reactions
to Jews, Judaism, Jewish? There
is no doubt that there is a measure
of truth in the just-quoted asser-
tion. Haven't most of us experi-
enced an occasional jeering when
"Jew" is mentioned? Yet, we can-
not be influenced that what Alt-
man felt was the rule. We believe
it is the exception, because there
is much of respect and admiration
at our appearance,. and only in the
ranks of the bigoted and the
narrow-mindedly ignorant does the
experience of Sig Altman predomi-
nate.
Yet, in the studies he has
.made, now published posthu-
mously,- Altman Ahmed_ such a
vast variety 'of prejudicial .activ
on the screen, in books, in many
novels, over the air, in published
prejudice by displaying the "comic
Jew" were Jewish writers, the
reader will learn.
"It seems," the author insisted
in his introduction, "that a Jewish
comic image is difficult to - recon-
cile with the prevailing sociological
view of Jewish life in American
society. Yet casual observation is
sufficient to confirm that such an
image indeed seems to exist."
*
There has been a capitalizing on
Yiddish terms as if it were a mag-
net to draw readers magically. To
such an extent that the very lan-
guage has been abused.
What's a "Yiddish science fan-
tasy"? This is how Ballantine
Books introduces "The Tsaddik of
the Seven • Wonders" by Isidore
Haiblum — as "the first- Yiddish
science fantasy novel ever." In-
deed: ever because it should have
been never and because if Jewish
readers will react properly it will
be never.
The fact is that only by using
Yiddish terms—the author is even
cautious to use the kh in terms
that are pronounced like the Ger-
man ascii. And the many Yiddish
words are supposed to make this
a Yiddish fantasy!
Yiddish is a language! It is not
a fantasy or a mystery. Haiblum
wrote a mystery and he should
not have distorted the tzaddik busi-
ness and the language mystery.
Any name, any terms, any banali-
ties would have served as well.
There is enough trouble retain-
ing the dignity Yiddish has earned
in a 1,000-year history without the
banal approach in a novel. 'Null
said!
.P,ANT..: COATS
Si tJ.!,(3.013.13ANS.
Friday, January 28, '1972-5
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There is something banal about
"Jewish Jokes for the John" which
has been issued—not bylined—as
a paperback by Pocket Books di-
vision of Simon and Schuster.
There are very few jokes (sic!?!)
in this booklet which could not be
applied to Peruvians or Indonesians
or any other Igroup which could
also feel maligned by them.
Take the first illustrated joke:
"Show me a male and female
who've been happy for 10 years
works, that the evidence serves
as an indictment of the non-
Jewish world, primarily the
English-speaking among whom
the tests were made for this book.
There is a sense of relief in the
supplementary accounts of the
humor of Sholem Aleichem and
other Jewish sources—those of the
dignified sort.
Many of the guilty in spreading
CAR COATS
So—it's a nasty book even for
and I'll show you a Jewish mother
and. her 10-year-old son." What's the john.
funny about that, unless it is the
common denigration that has been
so overdone in some degrading
novels recently?
Or the dedication: "To all the
Hymies and the Shiermies,' the
Abies and their Beckies . . . in-
numerable witz's ...without whom
everyone in this book would have
been named John or Mary . . ."
Enough quoting since anyone in
this book could have been Dick or
Joe or Amy.
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