Philo-Semitism in Nineteenth-Century German Literature

Description

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. I. Introductory 1. Nazism and Community: A Philosophical Nightmare 2. Bibliographical Preamble: A Scanty Corpus 2.1 Terms and Definitions 2.2 Bibliography 2.3 Scope and Range of this Study 2.4 Jewish ›Self-Hatred‹ II. Sacher-Masoch, Talmudist 1. Pintschew und Mintschew: The Source 2. Enlightenment vs. Orthodoxy 3. Philo-Semitism 4. Some Historical Background 5. The Paradise of Interpretation 6. Dialogue Again: Thoreau, Kleist, and Others 7. Thought, Language, and the Impersonal 8. An Afterthought: The Demand for Baptism III. Philo-Semitism in Nineteenth-Century German Fiction 1. Peter Schlemihl: The Wanderer 2. Jud Süß: Stereotype and Guilt 3. Karl Gutzkow: The Honest Anti-Semite 4. Bettina von Arnim: Judaism and Thematic Criticism 5. Annette von Droste-Hülshoff: »Gerechtigkeit!« 6. Friedrich Hebbel: Philo-Semitism as Vaudeville 7. Gustav Freytag and the Problem of Human Sacrifice 8. Wilhelm Raabe: Jewish Women 9. Theodor Fontane and L’Adultéra: Salvation by the Jew 10. Drama: Supplement IV. The Borders (I) The Border to the East: Austria 1. Ada Christen: Courage in Weakness 2. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach and a Jewish »Vogel« 3. Ludwig Anzengruber: The Best and the Worst 4. Ferdinand von Saar Creates a Prophet, Perhaps Malgré Lui V. The Borders (II) The Border to the West: Alsace-Lorraine The Strange Case of Erckmann-Chatrian 1. Who They Are 2. Le Blocus 3. Maître Daniel Rock 4. L’Ami Fritz 5. L’Illustre docteur Mathéus 6. Le Juif polonais 7. Le Combat de coqs 8. Le Sacrifice d’Abraham 9. L’Œil invisible 10. Narcissism and Representation 11. The Jew as Art Dealer 12. ›Conditio Judaica‹ VI. Women and Philo-Semitism VII. Conclusions 1. Vanishing Anti-Semitism? 2. The Stereotype 3. Guilt 4. The Jew, Absent and Present 5. Haunted Bibliography Index