ABSTRACT
Joseph Brami rightly states that Sarah Kofman's multifaceted experience of conflict extends to the State of Israel, culminating in her severe and unambiguous condemnation of Israeli defense policies. The political dimension of Sylvie Korcaz's novel is not limited to chilling parabolic recall of the Nazi camps or oblique critique of Israel. At great personal risk—deportation for harbouring Jews—the woman agrees to shelter them. The mother's greater cultural capital has been of benefit to her children alone, bringing no personal rewards. Gilda is a beautiful and self-preoccupied woman whose attempts to fulfil orthodox prescriptions of Jewish mothering fail flamboyantly. The Jewish daughters' critiques of Jewish mothers may signify a refusal, conscious or unconscious, to connive in occlusion of the abuse that can stem from the pressures to which the Jewish mother has traditionally been subject. Anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism is diagnosed not just in the French government but also in the French media.
