Cynthia Ozick's Midrashic Imagination in Heir to the Glimmering World

Abstract

Abstract:This article discusses the novel Heir to the Glimmering World and the ways in which Cynthia Ozick draws on Judaism's midrashic heritage, asserting writing and representation as ethically charged acts capable of both creation and destruction. Using interviews and Ozick's considerable body of criticism, this essay maps Ozick's concept of art and creativity, situating Heir within Ozick's ongoing interrogation of art and imagination within the Jewish tradition.