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In this thesis, I analyze the Germanophone reception of Gustav Meyrink's The Golem (Der Golem) between 1916 and 1996 with respect to its treatment as light fiction (Trivialliteratur). I examine a representative selection of literary criticism concerning the dominant themes and narrative structures of the novel. Since The Golem could not be ascribed to a distinct genre or period within the canon, its reception has been characterized by profound dichotomies. Meyrink's novel can be seen as a blank screen upon which critics have projected their respective ideological agendas. By applying new historicist and genre studies, I contextualize the trends across eighty years of critical response to The Golem and the dialectical conflict between 'high' literature and popular fiction. I thus demonstrate that the novel's reception is symptomatic of the debate about art and popular fiction concerning works of early modern surrealism.

No description available.

O golem é um ser mítico ligado ao misticismo judaico. O relato mais significativo envolve Judah Loew, rabino de Praga na república Checa no século XVI. O rabino Loew modelou o seu golem com o barro do rio Vltava e lhe deu vida através de um processo mágico. O Golem foi criado para proteger o povo judeu dos crescentes ataques anti-semitas. Nesta animação, feita com a técnica de stop-motion utilizando a argila como meio de expressão, a lenda do golem assume uma abordagem contemporânea. O Golem tem de proteger não só o povo judeu, mas toda a humanidade contra sua maior ameaça. Buscando entender sua tarefa, ele se depara com a contradição que ela representa. Neste filme de animação a argila sublima sua materialidade e liberta-se de seu peso para tornar-se um meio líquido e etéreo. Por este motivo ela foi escolhida como meio de expressão para este projeto. / The golem is a being connected to Jewish mysticism. The most significant narrative involves Judah Loew, the late 16th-century rabbi of Prague, in the Czech Republic. The rabbi modelled the Golem out of clay from the banks of the Vltava river, and brought it to life through a magic process. The Golem was created to defend the Jews from antisemitic attacks. In this short stop-motion animation made with clay, the story of the Golem takes a contemporary approach. The Golem has to defend not the Jews only, but the whole human kind from its greatest threat. Searching for the meaning of its task, the Golem faces the contradiction it represents. In this animation, clay frees itself from its materiality leaving behind its weight to become fluid and ethereal. That is the reason why it was chosen to be used as the means of expression in this project.

O golem é um ser mítico ligado ao misticismo judaico. O relato mais significativo envolve Judah Loew, rabino de Praga na república Checa no século XVI. O rabino Loew modelou o seu golem com o barro do rio Vltava e lhe deu vida através de um processo mágico. O Golem foi criado para proteger o povo judeu dos crescentes ataques anti-semitas. Nesta animação, feita com a técnica de stop-motion utilizando a argila como meio de expressão, a lenda do golem assume uma abordagem contemporânea. O Golem tem de proteger não só o povo judeu, mas toda a humanidade contra sua maior ameaça. Buscando entender sua tarefa, ele se depara com a contradição que ela representa. Neste filme de animação a argila sublima sua materialidade e liberta-se de seu peso para tornar-se um meio líquido e etéreo. Por este motivo ela foi escolhida como meio de expressão para este projeto. / The golem is a being connected to Jewish mysticism. The most significant narrative involves Judah Loew, the late 16th-century rabbi of Prague, in the Czech Republic. The rabbi modelled the Golem out of clay from the banks of the Vltava river, and brought it to life through a magic process. The Golem was created to defend the Jews from antisemitic attacks. In this short stop-motion animation made with clay, the story of the Golem takes a contemporary approach. The Golem has to defend not the Jews only, but the whole human kind from its greatest threat. Searching for the meaning of its task, the Golem faces the contradiction it represents. In this animation, clay frees itself from its materiality leaving behind its weight to become fluid and ethereal. That is the reason why it was chosen to be used as the means of expression in this project.

Thesis (M.A.)--Wake Forest University. Dept. of Liberal Studies, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84)

This thesis explores the critical question of the ethics of creation as it emerges to the forefront of contemporary thought in the late twentieth century. The question is examined through three independent yet interrelated motifs: the legend of the Golem, the symbol of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and the literature of Franz Kafka. An understanding of these three motifs, in all their implications, can provide valuable commentary and insightful reflections so that a discourse on a possible moral and ethical ground for affirmative creation can be engaged. It is imperative, in light of the destructive potentiality of our creative making, to address this discourse if architecture is to regain cultural relevance.

No description available.

The Golem Project är en studie i animation av död materia. Projektets två delar består av en essä där framförallt skapelsemyter studerats och ett fysiskt experiment utifrån fastställda hypoteser. The Golem Project presenterades på Galleri Mejan hösten 2017 som en utställning med namnet The Golem Experiment. / The Golem Experiment är det fysiska experiment som resulterade av mina studier. Det presenterades i form av en skulptural installation på Galleri Mejan hösten 2017.

Le mot golem, un hapax biblique traduit de l’hébreu golmi, présent dans le Psaume CXXXIX,16, désigne la forme du premier homme avant son animation par le souffle divin. Le plus souvent traduit par « embryon » ou « masse informe », son sens a généré une exégèse considérable.De la tradition juive, le mot en arrivera à désigner un homme artificiel, et sa création sera attribuée à de pieux rabbins dans une perspective d’imitation Dei, selon une interprétation magique du Sefer Yetsirah ou « Livre de la Création » qui en contiendrait la clé. L’expérience doit prouver la puissance créatrice des lettres de l’alphabet hébraïque ou des lettres du Nom de Dieu, selon les maîtres de la Cabbale achkénase et européenne du Nord. Ils ont consigné les techniques de création : c’est un rituel en deux temps, façonnement de la forme humaine à partir des éléments puis animation de celle-ci grâce aux récitations de combinatoires de lettres. La réussite de l’expérience est considérée comme la pierre de touche de la perfection religieuse du créateur comme de sa puissance créatrice, à l’instar de celle des lettres de l’alphabet hébraïque.Le golem entre dans le domaine légendaire vers la fin du XVIIIe siècle et les débuts du XIXe siècle, pour prêter à de saints rabbins des pouvoirs démiurgiques. A une première légende d’origine polonaise centrée sur le Rabbin Elias Baalschem de Chelm, succède la légende pragoise un peu plus tardive qui prend le pas sur la première et attribue au Rabbin Judah Löw ben Bezalel, outre des pouvoirs surnaturels, la création d’un golem censé protéger la ville juive des accusations de crimes riruels historiques. Si c’est au créateur que nous avons choisi de nous intéresser plus particulièrement, nous n’avons manqué d’évoquer le mot « golem » lui-même, son origine ainsi que celle de la légende et en regard de parallèles anciens. Nous nous sommes appuyée sur les thèmes mis en avant itérativement par les auteurs et dans lesquels s’inscrit le thème : Cabbale juive et mystique des lettres et du Nom de Dieu ou Schem. Magie, alchimie nous ont amenée à évoquer avec les auteurs le thème de Faust puis de Frankenstein explicites dans les textes, pour souligner la création dans la création. Nous nous sommes servie du thème du Graal pour mettre l’accent, avec une interrogation sur le parallèle icône et idole, sur la littéralité du thème de la création, avant d’en arriver à mettre l’accent sur une poétique des commencements, création de l’homme artificiel et création littéraire en miroir. / The word golem, a biblical hapax which was translated from the Hebrew term “golim”, is to be found in Psalm CXXXIX,16. It refers to the shape of the first man before his being given life by the breath of God.Most of the time, translated by the word “embryo” or “shapeless mass”, its very meaning has given rise to considerable exegis.From the Jewish tradition, the word will consequently happen to describe an artificial man whose creation will be ascribed to devout rabbis who had in prospect an Imitatio Dei, according to the magic interpretation of the Sefer Yetsirah or “Book of Creation” which is supposed to hold the key of it. The experiment must prove the creative power of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet or the letters attributed to the Name of God, according to the Ashkenazi and Northern European masters of the Cabbala. They have consigned their techniques of creation; the ritual takes place in two stages: first of all, there is the building of the human shape from the elements, then its animation happens owing to the reciting and combined arrangement of letters. The success of the experiment is considered as the touchstone of the religious perfection of the maker as well as his creative power, just like that of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.The golem became part of the legendary field between the end of the XVIIIth century and the beginning of the XIXth century, giving holy rabbis such powers as demiurges.The first legend brought to light has Polish origins and is centered on Reb Elias Baalschem of Chelm. Not long after it will give precedence to the legend born in Prague which tells the story of Rabbi Löw who, besides his supernatural powers, made a golem to protect the Jewish town accused of committing ritual historical crimes.Trought I decided to take a special interest in the maker’s function, actually I did mention the word golem, its origin as well as its legends, in connection with ancient parallels. I based my study on the iterated themes regularly brought to light by authors in whose works I might find the following themes: Jewish Cabbala, the mystic of the letters and the Name of God or Schem.Magic, alchemy would lead me to evoke the themes of Faust and Frankenstein and to underluie with their authors the theme of creation within creation.I called to mind the myth of the Holy Grail too, to wonder about the paralell between icon and idol, as well as about the literality of the poetic of all beginnings with the making of the artificial man and any literay creation, acting like a mirror writing