SELF-IDENTITY AND THE JEWISH BODY: ASSIMILATED GERMAN-SPEAKING JEWISH AUTHORS ON TRADITIONAL JUDAISM

Abstract

This article investigates portrayals of traditional Judaism and observant Jews in writings by assimilated German-Jewish authors. It thus explores notions projected onto traditional Jews – and particularly the Jewish body – as elements immanent to Jewish cultural production. At the centre of the enquiry are Heinrich Heine's Hebräische Melodien (1851), Otto Weininger's Geschlecht und Charakter (1902) and Joseph Roth's Juden auf Wanderschaft (1927). These writings construct speakers or narrators who endeavour to depart from traditional Judaism while at the same time questioning the feasibility of this effort. Following this dynamic, the article proposes that Anthony Giddens’ notion of self-identity can elucidate the pre-occupation with the body in modern German-Jewish literature. This preoccupation illustrates individuals’ internalisation of social norms as well as their active rewriting of these same norms.