The Talmudic Tradition in Contemporary British-Jewish Fiction: Silence versus Talking

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that contemporary British-Jewish fiction turns away from silence which is understood as a means of preventing problems in the community and that it depicts this kind of silence as harmful to family bonds. Instead, as I shall argue, recent British novels draw from the long-established tradition of Talmudic discussion and describe it as a method of solving intergenerational conflicts. Such an approach is visible in Disobedience by Naomi Alderman, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris, When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson, and The Innocents by Francesca Segal.