Language:
English
Year of publication:
1993
Titel der Quelle:
Folia Linguistica
Angaben zur Quelle:
27,3-4 (1993) 277-292
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
Antisemitism History 1945-
Abstract:
The discourse on Jews and things Jewish has very often been a touchstone of postwar German political culture. Antisemitic or philosemitic views, attitudes, positions, and forms of response in the FRG can generally be traced back to the immediate postwar period. Antisemitism was banned from the public sphere, but was retained in private discourse by way of allusions; it became latent antisemitism. Philosemitism was primarily a semantic phenomenon; one of its main characteristics was to create distance while pretending to create emotional and social nearness. What philosemitism involved was not the content of what was said, but how it was said. Presents examples of the prime philosemitic stereotypes - economic, political, cultural, social, religious. The philosemitic stereotype exaggerates everything Jewish, idealizing its object. Whatever does not fit this image is either disregarded or undergoes a metamorphosis in an antisemitic direction. Philosemitism blurred historical consciousness semantically; it took the place of genuine confrontation with the past and with contemporary Jewish history.
DOI:
10.1515/flin.1993.27.3-4.277
URL:
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