Language:
English
Year of publication:
1994
Titel der Quelle:
New Literary History
Angaben zur Quelle:
25,3 (1994) 569-600
Keywords:
Adams, Henry,
;
Antisemitism in literature
Abstract:
Describes the life and thought of the American historian and novelist Henry Adams (1838-1918) in relation to his attitude toward Jews. A liberal thinker until the 1890s, he then developed anarchist views and a virulent antisemitism which waned at the turn of the century but persisted in some of his writings. Examines his private letters, his "History of the United States, " and his autobiographical novel "The Education of Henry Adams" to explain why his views changed in the 1890s. His earlier hopefulness regarding political, economic, and cultural progress had turned to fear, anger, and disappointment due to various factors (e.g. his wife's suicide in 1885, the economic Panic of 1893, the influence of the works of Drumont which he read while in Paris in 1896), and he blamed Jewish capitalists for all the negative developments. Although he never recanted his antisemitism, his wrath diminished; he could accept deviations in society's development without the need of invoking villains and scapegoats.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink