Figures of Conversion

“Ragussis makes a definitive contribution to the growing scholarly exploration of race in nineteenth-century historiography. He adds powerful insights to the ongoing rediscovery of Scott. His acccount of Disraeli’s fiction and the fictions around the figure of Disraeli himself should prompt reconsideration of the importance of his related roles as writer, politician, and cultural symbol. Perhaps most importantly, Figures of Conversion shows how deeply that central trope, and the ‘hegemonic plot of conversion,’ is embedded in the history of the novel. The transformation of character, so often at the heart of the fictional growth of fictional heroes, will never look quite the same.” - Richard L. Stein , Judaism

"I was astounded by the depth and brilliance of this book. Ragussis makes the case that the Jew for British culture has always been the defining figure of difference. His literary examples are striking, but he also shows how the changing atmosphere alters and restructures the very notion of the Jew in British cultural life. His audience, readers interested in Jewish questions and British culture, will find material and insights not to be found in any existing literature." - Sander L. Gilman, University of Chicago

"This is the most stimulating and original treatment of representations of the Jew in English literature that I have ever read. It moves the discussion of images of the Jew in literature on to a new, more nuanced and intellectually challenging plane. What is important about Ragussis’ work is that it links representations of the Jew in English culture to what is now a central issue for students of English history and literature: constructions of Englishness and the formation of English nationalism." - Todd M. Endelman, University of Michigan