The Singular Beast

by Claudine Fabre-Vassas

This original account of the significance of the pig and its relationship to Jews in European Christian culture encompasses a vast array of folklore, history and ritual. Practices related to the breeding, slaughter and consumption of the pig have inspired both religious and secular taboos and rituals, laid out by the author in fascinating detail. She demonstrates clearly the power which a symbol may hold to mould an ethnic identity, and the book stands both as s study of the role of the pig, and as an analysis of the creation of anti-Semitic myths.

Genres: History, Religion

448 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1997

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Claudine Fabre-Vassas’ THE SINGULAR BEAST: JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND THE PIG started as an ethnographic study of the significance of pigs in a portion of southwestern France. In its final version, however, it becomes a study of the significance of pigs in the religious life of rural European Christians, especially during the time between Christmas and Easter.

As part of the celebration of liturgical feasts, the Jews are often associated with pigs, and they become defined by what they reject. Circumcision evokes the castration of pigs, the blood on the doorposts at Passover is associated with pig’s blood, and countless other correspondences are made, one more fanciful than the next. And the imagery overlaps. Jews may be associated with pigs, but in some contexts, for example, the pig is Christ.

Although the book contains a certain amount of interesting information, I found the level of detail tedious, and I just couldn’t make myself care about the demonstration of Christian superstition and practice related to the pig. I also got tired of reading about Jews being persecuted for “killing Christ.”