JWST 20.01 German-Jewish Exile Literature (in English)
The rise of fascism in Europe resulted in the displacement of countless Central-European Jews, who sought refuge in France, Switzerland, Sweden, Istanbul, Palestine, and above all in the United States. This course explores how German-Jewish writers, artists, and intellectuals responded to the condition of exile during the period of National Socialism and its aftermath. These writers constituted what Erika and Klaus Mann called “The Other Germany” by carrying forward the avant-garde possibilities of Weimar culture and offering political resistance to the Nazi regime from outside of Germany. Yet they were also confronted with the challenges of exile, including homelessness, alienation, and the struggle to form communities, along with painful questions about their own German identity and their relationship to the German language.
Examining works by Arendt, Mann, Brecht, Benjamin, Auerbach, Kracauer, Lasker-Schüler, Seghers, Sachs, Celan, Adorno, Werfel, Zinnemann, Lorre, and Schoenberg, the course will address key topics raised by the German-Jewish experience of exile, including nostalgia, loss, antisemitism, the corruption of the German language by National Socialism, bilingualism, the political significance of the refugee experience and resistance to fascism, the complex image of America in the works of German-Jewish refugees, and the religious meanings of exile.
Instructor
McGillen
Cross Listed Courses
GERM 42.14