The Whole World is a Very Narrow Bridge: The Liminal Identity of the Diasporic Jew and the Search for Belonging Through Artistic Practice

Farris, Annabelle

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

The Whole World is a Very Narrow Bridge: The Liminal Identity of the Diasporic Jew and the Search for Belonging Through Artistic Practice Public Deposited

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Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/t722hb569

Abstract

What does it mean to be liminal? The idea of being neither here nor there has always haunted me; however, it also characterizes me. Throughout most of my life, I have held fast to two strong identities: the first identity that I put before all the other aspects of myself is that I am Jewish. This identity is one that I have been taught to be proud of while also being unable to escape. I come from a rich history of religious and cultural practices that I embrace and struggle with. I am also an artist; this is the one thing I have always known to be absolutely true about myself. I exist to create. Art shapes how I see and interact with the world. However, I have never felt that I make Jewish art. Additionally, being a woman inherently changes how I fit in with my identity. Each identity comes with its own set of expectations, rules, desires, influences, and complications. I am not ‘just’ an artist; I am a woman-artist and Jewish-woman. I am permanently attached to a hyphen, and this is the liminal space I inhabit.

Jews, too, occupy liminal space; they float between being observers and participants in the larger society. Jewish texts and stories surround the themes of assimilation and revolution time and time again. The Jewish diaspora is vast and repeating, leaving a trail of hyphenated identities in its wake. Jews have held onto a unique practice and commitment to ritual, even as observance has changed. This research seeks to answer how identity relates to artistic works and how the diaspora shapes the American Jewish identity. By focusing on how the American Jewish identity has been shaped through continuous displacement, I will analyze the cultural issues that create the modern interpretation of Jewish practice and culture.

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