The Alien Jew in the British Imagination, 1881–1905: Space, Mobility and Territoriality

Description

This book explores how fin de siècle Britain and Britons displaced spatially-charged apprehensions about imperial decline, urban decay and unpoliced borders onto Jews from Eastern Europe migrating westwards. The myriad of representations of the ‘alien Jew’ that emerged were the product of, but also a catalyst for, a decisive moment in Britain’s legal history: the fight for the 1905 Aliens Act. Drawing upon a richly diverse collection of social and political commentary, including fiction, political testimony, ethnography, travel writing, journalism and cartography, this volume traces the shifting rhetoric around alien Jews as they journeyed from the Russian Pale of Settlement to London’s East End. By employing a unique and innovative reading of both the aliens debate and racialized discourse concerned with ‘the Jew’, Hannah Ewence demonstrates that ideas about ‘space’ and 'place’ critically informed how migrants were viewed; an argument which remains valid in today’s world. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: Placing the Alien Jew in the British Imagination (Hannah Ewence)....Pages 1-32 Jewish Eastern Europe: Between Territoriality and Dispossession (Hannah Ewence)....Pages 33-76 The Limits of Control: Journeys of the Alien Jew (Hannah Ewence)....Pages 77-131 Scaling the Jewish East End (Hannah Ewence)....Pages 133-190 Conclusion (Hannah Ewence)....Pages 191-198 Back Matter ....Pages 199-232