In Defense of Jewish Manhood Monotheism, Circumcision, and Gender in Freud�s Construction of Jewish Identity

Jeremy Zorn

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Marks, Susan

Keywords

Freud, Moses, Circumcision, Judaism, Jewish

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

This thesis argues that the parallel discourses Freud develops surrounding monotheism and circumcision, in Moses and Monotheism, seek to overcome anti-Semitic perceptions of Jewish effeminacy�perceptions which Freud, himself, internalized to a great extent. While Freud�s treatment of monotheism demonstrates his belief in an essential Jewish affinity for male-coded spirituality over female-coded sensuality, his understanding of circumcision proves to be more problematic. Having established the theoretical connection of circumcision, castration, and effeminacy in a prior work, Freud attempts to reconfigure the meaning of circumcision in Moses and Monotheism. Despite his effort to unite his theory of circumcision with his idealization of monotheism, Freud ultimately fails to overcome his conception of circumcision as an effeminizing practice. By threatening to compromise his defense of Jewish masculinity, Freud�s theory of circumcision provides the greatest hindrance to his affirmation of Jewish identity.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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