Language:
German
Year of publication:
2015
Titel der Quelle:
Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts
Angaben zur Quelle:
14 (2015) 449-476
Keywords:
Kraus, Karl,
;
Werfel, Franz,
;
Language and languages Philosophy
;
Jews Identity 20th century
;
History
Abstract:
Discusses Werfel's "Spiegelmensch" (1920) as a play addressing both Werfel's inner conflicts and his conflicts with Kraus regarding language and Jewish identity. Contends that Werfel's implicit equation of Kraus with the "Spiegelmensch" ("mirror man") makes use of the antisemitic stereotype of the Jew as an inauthentic imitator of non-Jews. This notion, which was embraced by Wagner and other antisemites, was also adopted by some Jews, among them Otto Weininger, whose views of the Jews as lacking identity and being "nothing" influenced Werfel. Argues that Weininger's views on Jewish self-hatred also stood at the center of Werfel's attack on Kraus in an open letter entitled "Die Metaphysik des Drehs", in "Die Aktion" in 1917. Kraus responded to "Spiegelmensch" with the play "Literatur oder Man wird doch da sehn" (1920), and he continued attacking Werfel in "Die Fackel" until the journal was discontinued in 1936. Kraus disregarded Werfel's accusation of Jewish self-hatred and steered the debate into the field of literature.
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