Blessings Beyond the Binary

Transparent and the Queer Jewish Family

Nora Rubel, Brett Krutzsch

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9781978838796
  9781978838802
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978838819
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Performing Arts

Transparent made history as the first television show to feature a transgender character in the main role, as the first streaming series to win the Golden Globe for Best Television Series, and as, in the words of journalist Debra Nussbaum Cohen, "the Jewiest show ever." No television show in history has depicted the lives of American Jews with as much attention to Jewish rituals, quirks, or culture. And no series has portrayed issues of gender and sexuality alongside Judaism with such nuance and depth, making Transparent a landmark series in the history of television.
 
Blessings beyond the Binary brings together leading scholars to analyze and offer commentary on what scholar Josh Lambert calls "the most important work of Jewish culture of the century so far." The book explores the show's depiction of Jewish life, religion, and history, as well as Transparent's scandals and criticisms and how it fits into and diverges from today's transgender and queer politics. 
 
The first book to focus on Transparent, Blessings beyond the Binary offers a rich analysis of the groundbreaking series and its connections to contemporary queer, trans, and Jewish life.
 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: Transforming Jews on Television
• Part II: Performing Judaism and Jewish Identity
• Part III: Transgressing and Queering Gender
• Part IV: Queering Jewish and Transgender History: Three Perspectives on Transparent’s Use of the Holocaust
• Part V: Concluding and Transitioning
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Selected Bibliography
• Notes on Contributors
• Index