Author Description
The Jewish Question In German Literature, 1749-1939 Is An Erudite And Searching Literary Study Of The Uneasy Position Of The Jews In Germany And Austria From The First Pleas For Jewish Emancipation During The Enlightenment To The Eve Of The Holocaust. Trying To Avoid Hindsight, And Drawing On A Wide Range Of Literary Texts, Ritchie Robertson Offers A Close Examination Of Attempts To Construct A Jewish Identity Suitable For An Increasingly Secular World. He Examines Both Literary Portrayals Of Jews By Gentile Writers - Whether Antisemitic, Friendly, Or Ambivalent - And Efforts To Reinvent Jewish Identities By The Jews Themselves, In Response To Antisemitism Culminating In Zionism. No Other Study By A Single Author Deals With German-jewish Relations So Comprehensively And Over Such A Long Period Of Literary History. Robertson's New Work Will Prove Stimulating For Anyone Interested In The Modern Jewish Experience, As Well As For Scholars And Students Of German Fiction, Prose, And Political Culture.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This study investigates the evolving representation of Jewish identity and the 'Jewish Question' within German and Austrian literature from the Enlightenment to the onset of the Holocaust. Ritchie Robertson, a scholar of German literature, utilizes a vast corpus of primary texts to analyze how writers navigated the social and political integration of Jews. The work argues that literary portrayals served as a critical barometer for the shifting attitudes toward Jewish emancipation, assimilation, and the rise of modern antisemitism.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of literary works spanning 1749 to 1939.
- Examination of both gentile and Jewish authors' perspectives on identity.
- Exploration of themes including secularization, emancipation, and the development of Zionism.
Scope Limits
- The study focuses primarily on literary texts rather than exhaustive political or sociological data.
- It does not extend its analysis beyond the immediate eve of the Holocaust.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars recognize this work as a comprehensive and authoritative survey of German-Jewish literary relations. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous framework for understanding the complex intersection of literature and political culture.
Page Count:
544
Publication Date:
2001-01-01
ISBN-10:
0191584312
ISBN-13:
9780191584312
History
Cultural History
Literary Criticism
European History
Jewish Studies
German