The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn
An imposing literary figure in America and Europe during the first half of the twentieth century, Ludwig Lewisohn (1882-1955) struggled with feelings of alienation in Christian America that were gradually resolved by his developing Jewish identity, a process reflected in hundreds of works of fiction...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Wayne State University Press
2022
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| Online Access: | ONIX_20220715_9780814344668_337 |
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| _version_ | 1869526938397179904 |
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| author | Melnick, Ralph |
| author_browse | Melnick, Ralph |
| author_facet | Melnick, Ralph |
| author_sort | Melnick, Ralph |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | An imposing literary figure in America and Europe during the first half of the twentieth century, Ludwig Lewisohn (1882-1955) struggled with feelings of alienation in Christian America that were gradually resolved by his developing Jewish identity, a process reflected in hundreds of works of fiction, literary analysis, and social criticism. Born in Berlin, Lewisohn moved with his family in 1890 to South Carolina. Identified by others as a Jew, he remained an outsider throughout his youth. Lewisohn became a notable scholar and translator of German and French literature, teaching at Wisconsin and Ohio State. Following his mother's death in 1914, he began to explore the Jewish life he had rejected, and by 1920 became a Zionist committed to fighting assimilation. Accusatory and inflammatory, his memoir Up Stream (1922) struck at the very heart of American culture and society, and caused great controversy and lasting enmity. As strong emotional influences, the women in Lewisohn's life-his mother and four wives-helped to frame his life and work. Believing himself liberated by the woman he declared his "spiritual wife" while legally married to another, he proclaimed the artist's right to freedom in The Creative Life (1924), abandoned his editorship at The Nation, and fled to Europe. Lewisohn's fictionalized account of his failed marriage, The Case of Mr. Crump (1926), once again attacked the empty morality of this world and won Sigmund Freud's praise as the greatest psychological novel of the century. A creator of one of Paris's leading salons, Lewisohn ended his leisurely writer's life in 1934 to awaken America to the growing Nazi threat. Poised to face the unfinished marital battle at home, but anxious to engage in the coming struggle for Jewish survival and the future of Western civilization, he set sail, unsure of what lay ahead. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-88588 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Wayne State University Press |
| publisherStr | Wayne State University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-885882024-04-04T14:39:46Z The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn Melnick, Ralph Social & cultural history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history An imposing literary figure in America and Europe during the first half of the twentieth century, Ludwig Lewisohn (1882-1955) struggled with feelings of alienation in Christian America that were gradually resolved by his developing Jewish identity, a process reflected in hundreds of works of fiction, literary analysis, and social criticism. Born in Berlin, Lewisohn moved with his family in 1890 to South Carolina. Identified by others as a Jew, he remained an outsider throughout his youth. Lewisohn became a notable scholar and translator of German and French literature, teaching at Wisconsin and Ohio State. Following his mother's death in 1914, he began to explore the Jewish life he had rejected, and by 1920 became a Zionist committed to fighting assimilation. Accusatory and inflammatory, his memoir Up Stream (1922) struck at the very heart of American culture and society, and caused great controversy and lasting enmity. As strong emotional influences, the women in Lewisohn's life-his mother and four wives-helped to frame his life and work. Believing himself liberated by the woman he declared his "spiritual wife" while legally married to another, he proclaimed the artist's right to freedom in The Creative Life (1924), abandoned his editorship at The Nation, and fled to Europe. Lewisohn's fictionalized account of his failed marriage, The Case of Mr. Crump (1926), once again attacked the empty morality of this world and won Sigmund Freud's praise as the greatest psychological novel of the century. A creator of one of Paris's leading salons, Lewisohn ended his leisurely writer's life in 1934 to awaken America to the growing Nazi threat. Poised to face the unfinished marital battle at home, but anxious to engage in the coming struggle for Jewish survival and the future of Western civilization, he set sail, unsure of what lay ahead. 2022-07-15T15:09:53Z 2022-07-15T15:09:53Z 2018 book ONIX_20220715_9780814344668_337 9780814344668 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/88588 eng image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International https://muse.jhu.edu/book/61495 Wayne State University Press The University of Wisconsin Press 10.1353/book.61495 10.1353/book.61495 d5b79a0d-4094-454e-9ce3-841263bbca5a 0903fbdc-d1cf-46d4-b7a2-4f5a4f15db4f 9780814344668 open access |
| spellingShingle | Social & cultural history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history Melnick, Ralph The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn |
| title | The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn |
| title_full | The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn |
| title_fullStr | The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn |
| title_short | The Life and Work of Ludwig Lewisohn |
| title_sort | life and work of ludwig lewisohn |
| topic | Social & cultural history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history |
| topic_facet | Social & cultural history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history |
| url | ONIX_20220715_9780814344668_337 |
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