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The Elusiveness of Tolerance

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Peter Erspamer explores the 'Jewish question' in German literature from Lessing's "Nathan der Weise" in 1779 to Sessa's "Unser Verkehr" in 1815. He analyzes the transition from an enlightened emancipatory literature advocating tolerance in the late eighteenth century to an anti-Semitic literature wi...

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Main Author: Erspamer, Peter R.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: The University of North Carolina Press 2021
Subjects:
German Studies
Literature
Jewish Studies
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism
Online Access:ONIX_20200623_9781469656489_113
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Summary:Peter Erspamer explores the 'Jewish question' in German literature from Lessing's "Nathan der Weise" in 1779 to Sessa's "Unser Verkehr" in 1815. He analyzes the transition from an enlightened emancipatory literature advocating tolerance in the late eighteenth century to an anti-Semitic literature with nationalistic overtones in the early nineteenth century. Erspamer examines "Nathan" in light of Lessing's attempts to distance himself from the excesses of his own Christian in-group through pariah identification, using an idealized member of an out-group religion as a vehicle to attack the dominant religion. He also focuses on other leading advocates of tolerance and explores changes in Jewish identity, particularly the division of German Jewry into orthodox Jews, adherents of the Haskalah, and converted Jews.

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