Juggling Identities among the Crypto-Jews of the American Southwest

Author: Kunin S.D.

Source: Religion, Volume 31, Number 1, January 2001 , pp. 41-61(21)

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Abstract:

The Crypto-Jews of New Mexico present a fascinating case of a modern community shaping and constructing identity in the context of competing identities. This article applies two concepts derived from structuralism as a means of examining and analysing this process. Bricolage is the primary theoretical concept. It provides the model of the different patterns which shape the construction of Crypto-Judaic identity. The second concept, that of the juggling of identities, shows the ways in which individuals with different Crypto-Jewish identities consciously and unconsciously emphasise different aspects of the underlying structural pattern. This aspect of agency creates the dynamic and transformational aspect which is significant to both Crypto-Jewish and modern identity. Copyright 2001 Academic Press

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: Department of Divinity and Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen, King's College, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3UB, U.K.

Publication date: 2001-01-01