Antisemitism in Europe after the Holocaust.
Prof. Lisa Silverman PhD
Seminar, 25. April 2022 bis 11. Juli 2022, montags, 16-18 Uhr
Some refer to antisemitism as “the longest hatred” due to the origins of hostility toward Jews in antiquity. But the decimation of Europe’s Jews in the Holocaust caused a fundamental shift: As a result of the genocide, antisemitism became a mainstream taboo and defining the Antisemite became a serious source of social power after 1945. And yet, from subtle, implicit messages to explicit acts of violence, antisemitism is more evident now than it has been in decades. Why does antisemitism continue to resonate so deeply, when the Holocaust supposedly taught us important lessons about its dangers decades ago? What forms does antisemitism take in our culture and how did these forms change after 1945? Using films, trials, and a wide variety of texts, this seminar will focus on the narrative power of antisemitism in the years after the genocide of Europe’s Jews. We will also study the development of theoretical frameworks used for analyzing antisemitism and consider the degree to which studies of misogyny, racism, and other forms of systemic hatred can be useful in understanding the history of antisemitism’s persistence since 1945 via stereotypes and deeply embedded social structures that perpetuate disadvantages. Although this seminar will focus on culture created in Central Europe immediately following the Holocaust, students will be encouraged to pursue their own research projects on antisemitism in other geographical areas and time periods according to their interests.
Dieses Seminar findet in englischer Sprache statt. Hausarbeiten können wahlweise auf Deutsch oder auf Englisch verfasst werden. Die Anmeldung ist ab dem 1. März 2022 über OLAT möglich: https://olat-ce.server.uni-frankfurt.de/olat/auth/RepositoryEntry/14011138053 Die Zahl der Teilnehmenden ist auf 25 begrenzt. Eine Warteliste ist eingerichtet.
INFORMATION: This course starts Monday, 25th of April!
Introductory Readings: Anti-Semite and Jew, New York 1995; Victor Klemperer, LTI. Lingua Tertii Imperii, Ditzingen 2020; Hilde Spiel, Return to Vienna, Riverside, CA 2011.