The 'Jewish Question' in German Literature, 1749-1939
Emancipation and its Discontents
Professor Ritchie Robertson author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:17th Jun '99
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
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- Paperback£56.00(9780199248889)
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.
... engaging reading of the Enlightenment ... as a study of representations of Jewish identities, Robertson's work offers a well-versed survey and provides a comprehensive view of the topic that leaves only the field of postwar German-Jewish literature untouched. * The Jewish Quarterly Review *
Introduces non-Germans to well and lesser-known German literary figures from 1749 to 1939 and to the answers they had to the so-called 'Jewish Question'. * Religion and the Arts *
A work of outstanding thoroughness and scholarship. * The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies *
Eminently readable and accessible, this study is destined to become the standard survey of the topic. * Modern Language Quarterly *
Robertson aims to give a broad synthesis of nearly two centuries of literary history, and it is difficult to imagine a book that does it better. * Modern Language Quarterly *
He [Robertson] recognizes that hostility to Jews had many sources ... This flexibility enables Robertson to provide a sensitive analysis of German writers about Jews. * James J. Sheehan, Times Literary Supplement *
This is an excellent introduction to the literary treatment of Jews and the Jewish question, accessible enough for beginners, interesting and challenging enough for experts. * James J. Sheehan, Times Literary Supplement *
Robertson is a careful and astute reader, sensitive to the nuances of language and style, alert to historical connections, and able to make useful comparisons across a wide range of European literature. * James J. Sheehan, Times Literary Supplement *
Robertson's is a magisterial work. He has read everything and summarised it well. * Anthony Julius, The Times *
ISBN: 9780198186311
Dimensions: 222mm x 145mm x 33mm
Weight: 729g
544 pages