Race and Identity in D. H. Lawrence : Indians, Gypsies, and Jews

Race and Identity in D. H. Lawrence is a wide-ranging examination of Lawrence's adoption and adaptation of stereotypes about minorities, with a focus on three particular 'racial' groups. This book explores societal attitudes in England, Europe, and the United States and Lawrence's utilization of cultural norms to explore his own identity. Race and Identity in D.H. Lawrence is a wide-ranging examination of Lawrence's adoption and adaptation of stereotypes about minorities, with a focus on three particular 'racial' groups. This book explores societal attitudes in England, Europe, and the United States and Lawrence's utilization of cultural norms to explore his own identity. With its focus on D.H. Lawrence's attitudes toward Indians, Gypsies, and Jews, Race and Identity in D.H. Lawrence examines how concepts about race are created and transmitted; how they are appropriated and sometimes transformed; and how individual and national identities relate to racial otherness. Setting Lawrence in his context(s) reveals how his personal circumstances combined with societal influences to shape his adoption and adaptation of stereotypes about minorities. His own ambivalent relationships with the racial other, and the ties between that ambivalence, his affiliation with 'Englishness', and his search for a better society, are at once revealing of his culture and particular to him as an individual. Lawrence's art tells 'the truth of the day', as he said good art does, but it also tells the truth of the artist, and of other days. His honesty on the subject, even if - even when - it offends, can inform and enliven our contemporary discussions of race and ethnicity Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 9 List of Abbreviations 11 1 Introduction: D. H. Lawrence and the Racial Other 13 2 Lawrence and the 'Jewish Problem': Reflections on a Self-Confessed 'Hebrophobe' 33 3 An 'Englishman at Heart'? Lawrence, the Jews, and the National Identity Debates 57 4 'Doing a Zion Stunt': Lawrence in his Land(s) of Milk and Honey 82 5 Lawrence and the Indian: Apprehending 'Culture' in the American Southwest 101 6 Lawrence's Caravan of Gypsy Identities 136 7 (Ad)dressing Identity: Clothing as Artifice and Authenticity 161 8 Cleanliness and Fitness: The Role of the Racial Other in Conceptions of Health 182 9 Crossing or Enforcing the Border: Purity, Hybridity, and the Concept of Race 203 Appendix. Race vs. Ethnicity: The Case of the Gypsies 217 Notes 220 Bibliography 274 Index 288 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction: D. H. Lawrence and the Racial Other....Pages 1-20 Lawrence and the ‘Jewish Problem’: Reflections on a Self-Confessed ‘Hebrophobe’....Pages 21-44 An ‘Englishman at Heart’? Lawrence, the Jews, and the National Identity Debates....Pages 45-69 ‘Doing a Zion Stunt’: Lawrence in his Land(s) of Milk and Honey....Pages 70-88 Lawrence and the Indian: Apprehending ‘Culture’ in the American Southwest....Pages 89-123 Lawrence’s Caravan of Gypsy Identities....Pages 124-148 (Ad)dressing Identity: Clothing as Artifice and Authenticity....Pages 149-169 Cleanliness and Fitness: The Role of the Racial Other in Conceptions of Health....Pages 170-190 Crossing or Enforcing the Border: Purity, Hybridity, and the Concept of Race....Pages 191-204 Back Matter....Pages 205-292