The Complexities of Victimhood: Nazism and Zionism in German-Jewish Literature

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Literature ◽  
German Jewish

German-Jewish Literature and Culture and the Field of German-Jewish Studies

2007 ◽  
pp. 165-184
Author(s):  
Mark H. Gelber
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
German Society ◽  
Jewish Studies ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Jewish Culture ◽  
Host Culture ◽  
European Culture ◽  
German Jewish

This chapter delineates the parameters of developments and relationships to the 'Jewish contribution discourse'. It notes the marginality of Jewish culture in present-day Germany that has enabled the emergence of the quintessential post-modern field of cultural studies in Germany and the basis for diverse criticism. It also mentions Moritz Goldstein, who boldly claimed in his 'Deutsch-jüdischer Parnass' that the Jews in Germany had become the custodians and arbiters of the spiritual treasures of German society. The chapter explores the understanding of European culture as largely Jewish, which militates against the idea of a possible Jewish contribution to that culture since the term 'contribution' appears to make little sense if the Jewish element is the dominant one. It explains the concept of a contribution that rests on the notion of a dominant host culture to which guests might contribute.

scholarly journals “Integration Ist Definitiv Nicht Unser Anliegen, Eher Schon Desintegration”. Postmigrant Renegotiations of Identity and Belonging in Contemporary Germany

Humanities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Maria Roca Lizarazu
Keyword(s):  
Performance Art ◽  
German Language ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
Art And Politics ◽  
Current Location ◽  
German Jewish ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Sense Of Home

This article examines the notion of “Desintegration” (de-integration), as introduced by German Jewish authors Max Czollek and Sasha Marianna Salzmann, against the backdrop of ongoing re-negotiations of identity, belonging, and “Heimat” (sense of home) in contemporary Germany. While many artistic contributions to the debates around “Desintegration” have come from the realm of performance art, I will pay special attention to Salzmann’s prize-winning novel Außer Sich (Beyond Myself) (2017), as a literary approximation of the “Desintegration” paradigm, which showcases what I call a “non-authoritative” poetics of non-belonging. I will conclude by showing that the notion of “Desintegration” and its connection to a broader “postmigrant” trajectory enable novel perspectives on three of the central issues discussed in this article: the current location of German Jewish literature and culture; contemporary German-language contestations of “Heimat” and belonging; and the relationship between art and politics.

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