-
7. Ital’Yah Letteraria: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Italy
- Indiana University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
seven ‰ Christoph Miething Ital’Yah Letteraria: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Italy When asked about contemporary Italian Jewish literature, Stefano Levi della Torre, one of Italy’s leading Jewish intellectuals, answered that there was none. He was, of course, wrong in reaching this conclusion but correct in suggesting some differentiations. First, there are in Italian literature important works that deal with what may broadly be called “cultura ebraica,” be they written by Jewish or non-Jewish authors. However, to categorize such works as “Italian Jewish literature” presupposes an interest in cultural particularism that is not in keeping with the Italian Jewish tradition. Second, within the last forty years two outstanding writers, Primo Levi and Giorgio Bassani, have been identified as specifically Italian Jewish authors. Neither Italo Svevo, nor Alberto Moravia, nor Natalia Ginzburg—all well-known writers of Jewish background —would have accepted this categorization. Third, there is no contemporary writer who could be compared to Levi or Bassani, nor are there works of outstanding quality to suggest that a new literary tradition is in the making . Fourth, had it not been for the Holocaust, neither Levi’s nor Bassani’s oeuvre would have been written. After all, Levi was a survivor and Bassani was a member of the anti-fascist resistance. They were witnesses and transformed their experiences into literature. Today the Holocaust as a literary theme is the 140 christoph miething common denominator for most works classified as “Italian Jewish.” This criterion is of historical interest but may not necessarily be of aesthetic value. So what is meant by the “Italian Jewish tradition” and what are its defining features? Among Europe’s Jewish communities, Italian Jewry stands out in its strong awareness of the continuity of its existence. Since Roman times Jews have lived in Italy. There was never a general expulsion of Jews, as was the case in England, France, Spain, and Germany. There were no pogroms. AntiSemitism was not as virulent as in other countries. As Frederic M. Schweitzer has written: “In stark contrast to Austria, France, and Germany, there was no political anti-Semitism in Italy in the decades before 1914, since the clericals, under papal injunction, refrained from organizing themselves as a political party. Racism, such as that of Gobineau . . . had to be imported” (2002, 263). Also, in Italy a strong, locally defined, mostly urban Jewish culture has always existed. Its main centers were Rome, Milan, Turin, Trieste, Venice, and Livorno, but there were Jewish communities in many other smaller towns and cities. Since the Italian nation-state only came into being in the late nineteenth century, regional identity was all that mattered for all Italians, as well as for Italian Jews. The number of Jews living in Italy never exceeded one hundred thousand (today there are some thirty thousand), but this relatively small number can look back on a long, unbroken record of its presence. Any attempt to elucidate Italian Jewish self-awareness and the distinctiveness of Italian Judaism felt most particularly by authors born after World War II has to be substantiated by the history of Italian Jewry(Luzzatto 1992, 149–56). Crucial for understanding the development of Italy as well as Jews is the fact that from the time of the Roman Republic onward—that is, well before the Christian era—religion was primarily a political and only secondarily a religious issue. Christianity in Italy was created as an institution, and politics was handled within the dialectic of res publica and res privata. Here the spirit of citizenship was first developed, founded on craftsmanship and trade rather than on dynastic affiliation or religious denomination. The individualization of religious experience (i.e., “Protestantism”) never acquired any great importance. Moreover, there were no religious wars in Italy. From the Middle Ages until the twentieth century Italian statehood has been at the mercy of the competing interests of the ecclesiastical and secular pursuit of power. Some of the most important Italian banks are still owned by the Vatican. Precisely this precarious state of the polity—the centuries-long juxtaposition of regional political concerns and Catholic pretensions to universality—created the free space in which a nondogmatic, not rabbinically ruled way of Jewish life could develop. What makes the situation of Italian Judaism different from all others— perhaps even unique—is that to be Italian and to be Jewish are viewed as complementary components of a single identity. The Holocaust has not eradicated [54.225.35.224] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 13:46 GMT) Ital...