German-Jewish Literature

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Pól Ó Dochartaigh (University of Ulster at Coleraine)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Literature Topic

Dates

Date of occurrence 321-2006

Places

Germany (Location)

Cultural Identities

Jewish European

Resources

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Any definition of what constitutes “German-Jewish Literature” is controversial. For some it is literature in German written by Jews. Others place a very different emphasis on such literature, preferring to speak of “Jewish literature in the German language” (Lamping, p. 11), an approach regarded by some as exclusionist. For still others it is literature written in German on Jewish themes, whether the author is Jewish or not (O'Dochartaigh, p. iii). The most inclusive approach is to regard any literature in German by Jewish writers or with a Jewish theme as “German-Jewish”, but this is by no means universally accepted. The issues offer no easy resolution.

Literature by a Jewish writer on a Jewish theme, such as Lion Feuchtwanger's Jud Süss [Jew Suess, 1925] falls unequivocally

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6350 words

Citation: Ó Dochartaigh, Pól. "German-Jewish Literature". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 November 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1688, accessed 21 November 2024.]