Presented By: Judaic Studies
Keepers of Accounts: The Practice of Inventory in Modern Jewish Culture
20th Annual David W. Belin Lecture in American Jewish Affairs
How does modern Jewish culture work? One vital, yet largely overlooked activity is inventory: creating lists of people, books, artworks, songs, jokes, and implementing these lists in such practices as literary canons, collectible cards, halls of fame, and websites. Shandler argues that, through inventory Jews respond to the challenges posed by making culture with this quintessentially modern idiom.