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Karl Kraus and the Jewish question: assimilation, language, and persecution in Vienna, 1874-1936

This study examines the Viennese satirist Karl Kraus and his responses to the "Jewish Question" and anti- Semitism. Through a comprehensive analysis of his major works, this project reveals Kraus's underlying views on Jewish identity and his ideas for resolving the "Jewish Question." Kraus attacked acculturated German-speaking Jews for "failing" to assimilate into society. In his mind, the bourgeois Jewish intellectuals had retreated into a "transparent ghetto" of aesthetic values, literary expression, and capitalist-materialism, represented by the "Jewish" press. For Kraus, anti-Semitism persisted because the Jews maintained their status as "Jews," and therefore could not assimilate into Viennese society. His solution to this "faulty" assimilation was to renounce all ties to Judaism and adopt Viennese culture completely.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fiu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.fiu.edu:etd-4664
Date14 November 2000
CreatorsFulwider, Chad Russell
PublisherFIU Digital Commons
Source SetsFlorida International University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceFIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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