A Question of Identity: Iberian Conversos in Historical Perspective

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In 1391 many of the Jews of Spain were forced to convert to Christianity, creating a new group whose members would be continually seeking a niche for themselves in society. The question of identity was to play a central role in the lives of these and later converts whether of Spanish or Portuguese heritage, for they could not return to Judaism as long as they remained on the Peninsula, and their place in the Christian world would never be secure. This book considers the history of the Iberian conversos-both those who remained in Spain and Portugal and those who emigrated. Wherever they resided the question of identity was inescapable. The exile who chose France or England, where Jews could not legally reside, was faced with different considerations and options than the converso who chose Holland, a newly formed Protestant country where Jews had not previously resided. Choosing Italy entailed a completely different set of options and dilemmas. Renée Levine Melammed compares and contrasts the lives of the New Christians of the Iberian Peninsula with those of these countries and the development of their identity and sense of ethnic solidarity with "those of the Nation." Exploring the knotty problem of identity she examines a great variety of individual choices and behaviors. Some conversos tried to be sincere Catholics and were not allowed to do so. Others tried but failed either theologically or culturally. While many eventually opted to form Jewish communities outside the Peninsula, others were unable to make a total commitment to Judaism and became "cultural commuters" who could and did move back and forth between two worlds whereas others had "fuzzy" or attenuated Jewish identities. In addition, the encounter with modernity by the descendants of conversos is examined in three communities, Majorca, Belmonte (Portugal) and the Southwestern United States, revealing that even today the question of identity is still a pressing issue. Offering the only broad historical survey of this fascinating and complex group of migrants, this book will appeal to a wide range of academic and general readers.

A Question of Identity: Iberian Conversos in Historical Perspective Review

R. M. Levine has done a lot of work on conversos, particularly the female converso experience, and is a competent scholar. I was curious to see where she would go next.

There are good sides to this volume. Levine surveys the converso experience in different lands--Portugal, Amsterdam, Italy, among others. This sort of geographical breath is relatively unusual for books about conversos, which tend to focus on a particular aspect or place. Her writing is clear, and she often retells the stories and anecdotes surrounding particular individuals and families. She also mentions interesting customs and practices here and there.

However, there are some serious drawbacks. Because Levine tries to cover so much territory, the book lacks in depth. I also would cast doubt on her method of using single individual cases to validate her claims. Often, unnecessary details distract from the main point. But more serious is her claim that a sense of converso identity could have been someone's sole basis for the decision to leave Iberia and for the choice of where to go; yet, this seems to be projecting a notion of "identity" back to the 16-17th centuries that might not have been there. On the other hand, she does not clearly define "identity," saying that the essence of converso identity was "uncertainty or serious dilemma" with examples of "cultural commuters" and "fuzzy Jews" (p.133). One wonders if the conversos saw themselves in that way. Last, her chapter on "Modern Manifestations" doesn't seem to have much to do with the rest of the book, and deals with converso groups in the 20th century. Apart from one paragraph, it's up to the reader to surmise what happened to converso identity from the 17th to the 20th century.

The book has limited appeal because it tries to cover too much without some overarching theory other than an exploration of a non-defined "identity." Examples of more penetrating studies are Yosef Kaplan's An Alternative Path to Modernity (on several communities), or Daniel Swetchinski's Reluctant Cosmopolitans (on Amsterdam).

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