Language:
German
Year of publication:
2005
Titel der Quelle:
Transversal; Zeitschrift für Jüdische Studien
Angaben zur Quelle:
6,2 (2005) 75-93
Keywords:
Mauthner, Fritz,
;
Antisemitism in literature
Abstract:
Mauthner (1849-1923), a Jewish convert to Protestantism, was a journalist and a prolific author of popular literature. His novel "Der neue Ahasver" appeared in 1882 at the time of the "Antisemitismusstreit", and was dedicated to Theodor Mommsen. The protagonist, like Mauthner himself, emigrated from Prague to Berlin because of his admiration for Prussia and its constitutional guarantee of equal rights to Jews, and the attraction of Berlin's liberal atmosphere. But after a year's absence, he found the city frighteningly changed: an antisemitic movement with its propaganda machine has swept over the masses, and he feels like a stranger. Mauthner understood and portrayed the connection between the new antisemitism and the instability of the modern city. But he hoped to fight it by appeals to morality, not realizing, as later Jewish authors did, that it is a question not of morality but of power.
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