Bringing Literature to Life

Jonathan Ezra Goldman, Ph.D., was named Distinguished Professor at New York Tech as of September 1, and while he is proud of the accomplishment, he is even prouder of what it says about the Department of Humanities.

“I connect history and literature with important issues in today’s culture and social world, showing how humanities studies address matters of general concern. Humanities professors aren’t at the center of New York Tech’s self-identification, but they are doing important work,” says Goldman, who is supportive of his colleagues as secretary of the New York City chapter of the American Association of University Professors at New York Tech as well as in other service roles. The distinguished professorship shows that the university’s leadership “recognizes the work we’re doing,” he says. “It’s a team award.”

Part of that work, he notes, is inspiring students to reflect on literature in a cross-disciplinary convergence of historical, political, and social contexts, particularly related to Goldman’s special interest in the cultural history of New York City, and connect those ideas to current issues.

“Students might not expect that The Lord of the Rings can be a way of talking about race in Western societies, but there are clear racial hierarchies in [J.R.R.] Tolkien’s work,” Goldman says. “He was writing out of his cultural context, and that has a great deal to say about race and gender in our own moment. It’s an eye-opener for students that these stories contain ideas of race that they wouldn’t necessarily agree with.”

Goldman also tries to open students’ eyes about themselves.

“Students who come here have tech interests, and many have been told for years they’re not good writers and readers, and they’ve internalized that message,” Goldman says. “It’s an exciting experience to connect with those students and help them to think positively about writing and critical thinking. That may be the most gratifying thing about teaching at New York Tech.”

Goldman brings this myth-busting approach to the general public in his newest book, Hidden Histories of Jazz Age New York: From the Suppressed to the Strange, published earlier this year. “It’s a book of cultural history,” he says. “It looks at New York in the 1920s and gives a more complete picture of it. I talk about marginalized communities that we don’t hear much about.”

While “Roaring Twenties” is a phrase commonly used to describe the decade known for economic prosperity, the popularity of jazz music, and social and cultural vitality after World War I, Goldman dislikes the term because he says it does not present a full depiction of what life was like in New York City at the time. Based on his research in historical archives as well as film, theater, music, and other materials, Goldman dispels some of the myths and offers a broader perspective of the city in the 1920s—from traffic problems and housing shortages to the city’s Jim Crow laws, anti-immigration sentiment, and proclivity toward white supremacy, including a surge of membership in the Ku Klux Klan.

“The book is written for general audiences,” he says, “but because I’m an academic and researcher, I go down a lot of rabbit holes, and that makes the book fun.”

Goldman scours archival material for his literary research on other topics, too. Take, for example, his expertise in the works of James Joyce, an influential Irish author of the 20^th century. As part of Joyce and the Law, a collection of essays he edited, Goldman researched the legal archives on the evolution of trademark law at the time Joyce was writing. Other contributing essayists analyzed legal statutes regarding marriage, infidelity, and divorce within Joyce’s Catholic culture as well as laws surrounding immigration, finance, property ownership, libel, and other matters.

“I have a particular attraction to Joyce because he’s limitless in what he offers a reader to think about,” Goldman says. “I didn’t style myself as a Joyce expert [earlier in my career], but there’s an endless appetite for writing about Joyce, so I started embracing it more than resisting it.” About being named president of the James Joyce Society, a 79-year-old organization launched in New York City, Goldman adds with a laugh, “I’m not necessarily the most Joycean New Yorker, but I’m probably the most New York Joycean.”

By Ashley Festa