Language:
English
Year of publication:
1997
Titel der Quelle:
Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte
Angaben zur Quelle:
71,1 (1997) 127-145
Keywords:
Droste-Hülshoff, Annette von,
;
Antisemitism in literature
;
Jews Fiction
;
German literature 19th century
Abstract:
Notes that critics have generally avoided discussing the role of the Jews in "Die Judenbuche", although this is what gives the story its coherence. In the book, Jewish moneylenders encourage immorality and crime in the village, and may be connected with criminal gangs. They are also depicted as those who carry out retribution using their magic. The protagonist, Friedrich, who has strayed from Christianity, with its ethos of mercy, becomes subject to the Jewish ethos of revenge. Droste-Hülshoff shows her disapproval of the villagers' prejudice against Jews, but uses popular stereotypes to construct her story. Argues that the emerging nationalism in Germany implied rejection of the Other, and the stereotypes were a projection onto the Other of the corruption and criminality in Christian society caused by the social and political upheavals of the time.
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