Literary Precedents for My Name Is Asher Lev

My Name Is Asher Lev Literary Precedents

My Name Is Asher Lev is a novel of initiation and is particularly influenced by James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). Both deal with the growing up of a young man with artistic gifts and interests, and both also deal with the young artist's conflicts with his family, community, and religion. In both, the result of such conflicts is a separation or exile that becomes part of the artist's growth.