<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p>While  some  Jewish  immigrant  autobiographies  have  received broad critical attention, a few important autobiographical endeavours have been  underrepresented  or  almost  forgotten.  Autobiographies  written  by Jewish female writers who immigrated to America from Russia, Poland, or Galicia often draw a bifurcated picture of their struggles in callous New York sweatshops, or, on the contrary, they exalt the Jews’ notable success while blending in the American melting pot. Scarce studies, however, have been devoted to the dislocation and uprootedness of female immigrants and to the nostalgic feelings they have experienced during their absorption into American reality. This paper intends to resuscitate the forgotten voice of a Jewish immigrant female writer, Rose Gollup-Cohen. Moreover, using primarily psychoanalytical methodology and a feminist theory, the paper focuses on the nostalgic feelings that immigrants reverted to. Finally, it deals with both the therapeutic and the destructive powers of compulsive writing and  shows  how  the  writing  process  assists  an  immigrant  writer  when coping with distress experienced in her new homeland, but, on the other hand, it also demonstrates how compulsive writing may lead to obsessive behaviours, resulting in losing awareness of one’s surroundings, neglecting one’s family, and even to depression and suicide.</p>
</abstract>

While  some  Jewish  immigrant  autobiographies  have  received broad critical attention, a few important autobiographical endeavours have been  underrepresented  or  almost  forgotten.  Autobiographies  written  by Jewish female writers who immigrated to America from Russia, Poland, or Galicia often draw a bifurcated picture of their struggles in callous New York sweatshops, or, on the contrary, they exalt the Jews’ notable success while blending in the American melting pot. Scarce studies, however, have been devoted to the dislocation and uprootedness of female immigrants and to the nostalgic feelings they have experienced during their absorption into American reality. This paper intends to resuscitate the forgotten voice of a Jewish immigrant female writer, Rose Gollup-Cohen. Moreover, using primarily psychoanalytical methodology and a feminist theory, the paper focuses on the nostalgic feelings that immigrants reverted to. Finally, it deals with both the therapeutic and the destructive powers of compulsive writing and  shows  how  the  writing  process  assists  an  immigrant  writer  when coping with distress experienced in her new homeland, but, on the other hand, it also demonstrates how compulsive writing may lead to obsessive behaviours, resulting in losing awareness of one’s surroundings, neglecting one’s family, and even to depression and suicide.

Nostalgia and Creative Urge as Double-Edged Swords in the (Auto)Biographical Writings of Rose Gollup-Cohen

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

While  some  Jewish  immigrant  autobiographies  have  received broad critical attention, a few important autobiographical endeavours have been ...

Nostalgia and Creative Urge as Double-Edged Swords in the (Auto)Biographical Writings of Rose Gollup-Cohen

Published Online: Nov 15, 2023

Page range: 1 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2023-0001

Keywords
nostalgia, immigration, autobiography, Jewish female writers

© 2023 Irina Rabinovich, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Nostalgia and Creative Urge as Double-Edged Swords in the (Auto)Biographical Writings of Rose Gollup-Cohen

Published Online: Nov 15, 2023

Page range: 1 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2023-0001

Keywordsnostalgia, immigration, autobiography, Jewish female writers

© 2023 Irina Rabinovich, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
nostalgia, immigration, autobiography, Jewish female writers