Philo-Semitism in Nineteenth-Century German Literature (review)

The Jewish Quarterly Review, XCIII, Nos. 3-4 (January-April, 2003) 625-626 Irving Massey. Philo-Semitism in Nineteenth-Century German Literature. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2000. Pp. vi + 199. Irving Massey's Philo-Semitism in Nineteenth-Century German Literature departs from most scholarly works on German literature and history. While much of the contemporary scholarship interested in German Jewry is concerned with antisemitic motivations and themes in 19th-century German life, language, and culture, Massey seeks to analyze literary works outside of the antisemitic corpus. His sweeping study thus sets out to analyze German 19th-century literature in which Jews and Judaism are presented in a "favorable , or at least not unfavorable light" (p. 9). The book is sweeping indeed. Massey's wide-ranging text includes the works of well-known authors, like Wilhelm Hauff and Theodor Fontane, and lesser-known German writers, like Ada Christen. His analysis is geographically broad as well, for Massey examines works published throughout the Austrian Empire and in Alsace-Lorraine. Furthermore, his study, which includes a variety of literary forms, draws on a number of diverse themes including , but not limited to, the enlightenment's impact on Orthodox forms of learning, women and philosemitism, the phenomenon of self-hatred, and Jews and artistic representation. His periodization is very broad. Massey's book begins with an analysis of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's short story "Pintschew and Mintschew," and leaps into discussions concerning 19thcentury antisemitism, the Third Reich, the aftermath of the Holocaust, and contemporary neo-Nazi movements. The book's significance lies in its novelty and in its introduction of a broad range of questions and writers. Massey acquaints his readers with lesser-known authors who have not yet been translated into English and lesser-known works by more well-known writers. His unique examination of this literature challenges previous assumptions about philosemitic writers . In his chapter on Sacher-Masoch, for example, Massey demonstrates that Sacher-Masoch was neither as philosemitic nor as knowledgeable about Jewish matters as previous scholars have assumed. Instead, he plagiarized significant sections of works by the writer Peter Beer. Finally, Massey's intent to study the meaning and place of philosemitism in Germany departs from traditional scholarship and has the possibility of adding tremendously to our understanding of 19th-century German life. Massey asserts that there are three different forms of philosemitism. In the first, Gentiles demonstrate an "uncritical enthusiasm for all things Jewish," something easiest to sustain in the absence of Jews (p. 31). The second form is characterized by non-Jews enthusiastically embracing Jewish themes, culture, or individual Jews out of guilt, a phenomenon evident during the emancipation debates or in the aftermath of the Holocaust. The final type, 626THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW which interests Massey most, "occurs when people just seem to be more comfortable among Jews, or want to be affiliated with Jews, without feeling any special guilt or pressure to espouse a Jewish cause" (p. 32). Here Massey highlights an example from Ludwig Anzengruber's Der Meineidbauer . In Anzengruber's work, a female innkeeper and a Jewish peddler hold a comfortable conversation. The two characters, according to Massey, are relaxed, display no artifice, and have a discussion that is both personal and far-reaching. Yet, the challenge of trying to locate and understand philosemitism undermines Massey's book. Early on, the author acknowledges that the philosemitic corpus is extremely thin and often lacking in literary quality or substance (p. 73). According to Massey, there are no works that represent "absolutely unqualified philo-Semitism. . . . There is scarcely a German writer in the nineteenth century who did not, at one time or another, give voice to some anti-Semitic feelings" (p. 1 1). The authors that Massey examines therefore tend to be extremely conflicted in their feelings towards Jews and are influenced, if not characterized, by strong anti-Jewish feelings . Thus, Massey's text tends to read as a study of antisemitism rather than philosemitism. Furthermore, while I fully concur with Massey's forms of philosemitism, he does his book a disservice by discussing the phenomenon of philosemitism so briefly. His text would have benefited deeply from a more thorough analysis of the phenomenon...