Seminar paper from the year 2019 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,3, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Fachbereich Translations-, Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft), course: Readings in 21st-Century American Literature, language: English, abstract: In this paper with the title "Jewish American Literature - a Critical Introduction" the focus will be on the origins and elements of Jewish American literature as well as on contemporary writings of the 20th and 21st century. The reasearch for this paper is based predominantly on writings of the American-Israeli professor, Hana Wirth-Nesher, who wrote and edited several books on Jewish American literature. She will be introduced in the beginning of this paper. After that the origins and characteristic elements of Jewish American literature will be described. Contemporary Jewish American literature will be discussed afterwards, followed by an introduction of Philip Roth and two of his novels - Goodbye, Columbus and Indignation. These were chosen in order to give concrete examples of literary works which were both - celebrated and criticized by their audience. The last chapter will consist of a personal reflection concerning Jewish American literature.