Bieganski: The Brute Polak Stereotype in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781936235155)

In this study, Goska exposes one stereotype of Poles and other Eastern Europeans. In the "Bieganski" stereotype, Poles exhibit the qualities of animals. They are strong, stupid, violent, fertile, anarchic, dirty, and especially hateful in a way that more evolved humans are not. Their special hatefulness is epitomized by Polish anti- Semitism. Bieganski discovers this stereotype in the mainstream press, in scholarship and film, in Jews' self-definition, and in responses to the Holocaust. Bieganski's twin is Shylock, the stereotype of the crafty, physically inadequate, moneyed Jew. The final chapters of the book are devoted to interviews with American Jews, which reveal that Bieganski-and Shylock-are both alive and well among those who have little knowledge of Poles or Poland.

Author: Danusha V. Goska
ISBN-10: 1936235153
ISBN-13: 9781936235155
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Language: English
Published: 07/01/2010
Pages: 344
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.41lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.81d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2011
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2010 pg. 51