On the origins of Jewish self-hatred
By: Paul Reitter
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Princeton
Language: eng
Number of pages: 166
ISBN-13: 9780691119229
Subjects: Self-hate (Psychology); Antisemitism; Psychological aspects
Description: "Today, the term 'Jewish self-hatred' often denotes a treasonous brand of Jewish self-loathing, and is frequently used as a smear, such as when it is applied to politically moderate Jews who are critical of Israel. In On the Origins of Jewish Self-Hatred, Paul Reitter demonstrates that the concept of Jewish self-hatred once had decidedly positive connotations. He traces the genesis of the term to Anton Kuh, a Viennese-Jewish journalist who coined it in the aftermath of World War I, and shows how the German-Jewish philosopher Theodor Lessing came, in 1930, to write a book that popularized 'Jewish self-hatred.' Reitter contends that, as Kuh and Lessing used it, the concept of Jewish self-hatred described a complex and possibly redemptive way of being Jewish. Paradoxically, Jews could show the world how to get past the blight of self-hatred only by embracing their own, singularly advanced self-critical tendencies--their 'Jewish self-hatred.'"--Publisher's Web site.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-159) and index.
Table of contents: title: Genealogical imperatives; title: The birth of "Jewish self-hatred" and the spirit of interwar Europe; title: Prominence : the making of Theodor Lessing's book "Jewish self-hatred".