A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of Judaism in George Eliot�s Daniel Deronda

Alireza Farahbakhsh; Zohreh Ahmadi

Volume : VI, Issue : VII, July - 2017

A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of Judaism in George Eliot�s Daniel Deronda

Alireza Farahbakhsh, Zohreh Ahmadi

Abstract :

The present article aims to offer a Foucauldian reading of George Eliot�s 1876 novel, Daniel Deronda according to Michel Foucault�s theories of power and discourse. Through analyzing Foucault�s discourse of power in Daniel Deronda, George Eliot�s view on the considerable subject of Jews and their religion is discussed. In other words, the concepts are explored in Daniel Deronda through the Christian and Jewish characters� ideas about Jews and their religion. The present article reveals Jews� limitations in the nineteenth century and their opposition with the essential problems through Jewish characters� debate over the social issues in the novel. The article determines dominant powers operating within Jews through Daniel Deronda�s views on them and shows Ezra Cohen Mordecai�s resistance to these ideas.