Philo Semitism In Nineteenth Century German Literature

The work begins with an attempt to understand the philosophy of Nazism and its attendant anti-Semitism, as a necessary prelude to the study of philo-Semitism, which also displays a continuous tradition to the present day. Most of the non-Jewish authors in Germany in the nineteenth century expressed both anti-Semitic and philo-Semitic views (as did most of the German-Jewish authors of that same time); the following work deals with philo-Semitic texts by the non-Jewish authors of the period. The writer who provides the largest body of relevant material is Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, but works by Gutzkow, Bettine von Arnim, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Hebbel, Freytag, Raabe, Fontane, Grillparzer, Ebner-Eschenbach, Anzengruber, and Ferdinand von Saar are also examined, as are several tales by the Alsatian authors Erckmann and Chatrian. There is a short chapter on women and philo-Semitism. The conclusion draws attention to the feelings of guilt that are revealed in a number of the texts.

"In Samson Raphael Hirsch's Religious Universalism and the German-Jewish Quest for Emancipation Moshe Miller argues that nineteenth-century German Jews of all persuasions actively sought acceptance within German society and aspired to achieve full emancipation from the many legal strictures on their status as citizens and residents. But, where non-Orthodox Jews sought a large measure of cultural assimilation, Orthodox Jews were content with more delimited acculturation. However, they were no less enthusiastic about achieving emancipation and acceptance in German society. There was one issue, though, which was seen by non-Jewish critics of emancipation as a barrier to granting civic rights to Jews: namely, the alleged tribalism of the Jewish ethic and the supposedly Orthodox notion of Jews as "the Chosen People." These charges could not go unanswered, and in the writings of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), a leading thinker of the Orthodox camp, they did not. Hirsch stressed the universalism of the Jewish ethic and the humanistic concern for the welfare of all mankind, which he believed was one of the core teachings of Judaism. His colleagues in the German Orthodox rabbinate largely concurred with Hirsch's assessment. This account places Hirsch's views in their historical context and provides a detailed account of his attitude toward non-Jews and the Christianity practiced by the vast majority of nineteenth-century Europeans"--

Between 1749 and 1850--the formative years of the so-called Jewish Question in Germany--the emancipation debates over granting full civil and political rights to Jews provided the topical background against which all representations of Jewish characters and concerns in literary texts were read. Helfer focuses sharply on these debates and demonstrates through close readings of works by Gotthold Lessing, Friedrich Schiller, Achim von Arnim, Annette von Droste- Hülshoff, Adalbert Stifter, and Franz Grillparzer how disciplinary practices within the field of German studies have led to systematic blind spots in the scholarship on anti-Semitism to date.

Discusses German writers' antisemitism, as well as defense of Jews and of their emancipation, in the transition period between the Enlightenment and the post-Napoleonic reaction, using as examples the correspondence between the pro-emancipation Wilhelm von Humboldt and his antisemitic wife, Caroline; of the philosemitic Bettine von Arnim with her brother, Clemens Brentano, and her husband, Achim von Arnim, both antisemites; and of Rahel Varnhagen, describing her suffering due to her Jewish identity and her distress at rising antisemitism. Examines Enlightenment drama which portrayed both wicked and noble Jews (but more of the latter). In contrast, popular farces of the early 19th century, especially "Unser Verkehr" by Karl B.A. Sessa and the plays of Julius von Voss, present stereotypes ridiculing the Jews, especially Jewish attempts at assimilation, and also hint at the danger of Jews to society. Relates to the Jewish villains in the novellas and fairy tales of Brentano and von Arnim, who were also founding members of the antisemitic Christlich-deutsche Tischgesellschaft. Discusses, as well, Jewish dramatists' protests against discrimination in plays purportedly dealing with other oppressed minorities.

This book investigates the place and meaning of consumption in Jewish lives and the roles Jews played in different consumer cultures in modern Europe and North America. Drawing on innovative, original research into this new and challenging field, the volume brings Jewish studies and the history and theory of consumer culture into dialogue with each other. Its chapters explore Jewish businesspeople's development of niche commercial practices in several transnational contexts; the imagining, marketing, and realization of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine through consumer goods and strategies; associations between Jews, luxury, and gender in multiple contexts; and the political dimensions of consumer choice. Together the essays in this volume show how the study of consumption enriches our understanding of modern Jewish history and how a focus on consumer goods and practices illuminates the study of Jewish religious observance, ethnic identities, gender formations, and immigrant trajectories across the globe.

Analyzes the heated critical debate on Heine from his own lifetime to the present. Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), one of the best known and most controversial German writers of the nineteenth century, has been the subject of intense critical debate. Heine's lyric poetry ranks second only to Goethe's in popularity and is known world wide in musical settings. He is also known for his stories and travel sketches, his writings on political, social, and cultural developments in Europe, and for essays on literature, religion, and philosophy. Peters's study records the stormy development of Heine's critical reception from his own time down to the present. As a Jew living in Paris, an outspoken critic of both repressive political policies in Germany and the stifling influence of the Catholic church, and the author of the most famous satirical poem in the German language, Deuschland. Ein Wintermärchen, Heine engendered the wrath of the conservative critics of his day, while progressive critics, particularly those supportive of his emancipatory ideals, came to his defense. Since his death, Heine criticism has continued to be partisan in tone. Twentieth-century Heine criticism has mirrored Germany's historical development, from the nationalistic fervor of the Wilhelminian era, through the tolerance of Weimar, the anti-Semitic frenzy of the Third Reich, the postwar period of competing critical views in East and West, to the final decade of the century and a period of renewed and intense critical interest. George F. Peters is professor of German and Chair of the Department of Languages and Linguistics at Michigan State University.

This book focuses on the national conceptualization of Judaism and Jews by German neo-Pietists from the early Restoration (1815) until the New Era (neue Ära, 1858-1861), at which point Prussia and other German states embarked on a liberal course. The book demonstrates how a certain understanding of nationalism by Awakened Christians, who were associated with political conservatism, was applied to themselves as belonging to a German nation, and correspondingly to Jews as members of a distinct Jewish nation. It argues that this kind of nationalization by neo-Pietists–among them theologians, intellectuals, and members of the agrarian aristocracy–was interwoven with their religion of the heart, and drew on a tradition of a community of kinship established by the earlier German Pietism since the late seventeenth century. The book sheds new light on the accommodation of nationalism by German Pietist conservatives, who so far were considered as opponents of the national idea. At the same time, it shows that their posture towards Jews was not merely anti-Semitic. It emerged from a specific religious-national synthesis, and aimed at an alternative solution to the Jewish Question, other than emancipation, in the form of Jewish national political independence.