The Singular Beast is an academic study of the relationship between pigs and Jews in European Christian culture. It is a challenging book, but it's well worth the trouble for readers who want to understand the shape of traditional Christian anti-Semitism. "We know that the world's cultures readily designate others by what they eat; in Europe we call one another frogs, roast beefs, or macaroni eaters," Claudine Fabre-Vassas writes. "A very rare exception should have aroused suspicion: Jews are called 'pigs,' imagined to be bloodthirsty, identified precisely as what they forbid themselves." When Fabre-Vassas digs into this paradox, she discovers all kinds of interesting and awful myths. Suffice it to say, Christian readers will think twice about putting ham in the oven next Easter.
From Library Journal
Fabre-Vassas, a research fellow in Paris, has written an examination of Christian attitudes toward Jews particularly during the Middle Ages. A reader may ask: Why focus on the pig? In the author's words, "The pig is a creature divided. It incarnates the sins of lechery and gluttony....At the same time, it is a Christian flesh, endowed with a soul of blood, called upon to appear at the meals of Christmas and Easter." Yet in the historical anti-Semitic literature, the Jews were associated with the pig's lowly traits. In Christianity, the very traits of the pig raised a duality. There was the profane pig and the pig used in sacred ceremonies purged of its negative attributes. Fabre-Vassas offers a solid, scholarly study that would be best suited for libraries with comprehensive collections in social anthropology. Readers may also want to consult an older, classic work, Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger (LJ 10/15/66), a groundbreaking study on the topic of taboos.?Paul M. Kaplan, Lake Villa District Lib., Ill.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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