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and the lack of prospects that so often defi
ne life in these locales abet alcoholism,
often accompanied by violence, in most cases perpetrated by husbands against
their wives.47 For some women who married hastily before suffi
ciently getting
to know their husbands, the early death of a spouse is more of a relief than an
occasion for mourning.48
Löwy paints a complex portrait of historic Vienna. On the one hand, nostalgic
and romanticized qualities characterize life in the past or in Vienna’s village-like
outskirts. On the other, he sheds light on their shortcomings. In this respect, the
modernization of the city is not necessarily a reason for lament. Emphasizing the
tranquility of these locales also means downplaying their disadvantages. Old Vi-
enna and the periphery therefore seem particularly ambivalent in Löwy’s stories.
Furthermore, his portrayal suggests that a longing for the past is misplaced.
From the Periphery to the Prater
Th
e replacement of the past with the present was tied to the development of new
concepts of space. With regard to artistic and literary representations of the pe-
riphery, the Prater often makes an appearance. Tina Blau’s paintings that feature
this Viennese leisure area as a motif are among the most signifi
cant documents
within her oeuvre. Th
ey are therefore even more signifi
cant than her images of
the periphery.49
While Felix Salten turned away from the outskirts due to increasing antisem-
itism in Vienna’s outlying districts, he projected his ideas of a refuge onto the
Prater, which he denoted as “the eternal periphery.”50 He described the Wurstel-
prater, the amusement park within the extensive recreational area, as a domain
that was largely cut off from the rest of the city. Specifi cally, antisemitism and
nationalism were absent from this space, and it therefore did not provoke hostil-
ity. Th
ese circumstances made it possible for visitors to assume hybrid identifi
ca-
tions.51 People who would not normally associate with one another in everyday
life could come into contact with one another and experience a sense of cama-
raderie and belonging. To Salten’s mind, the Prater was not a nostalgic site of
longing anchored primarily in the past, but rather a real locale that was accessible
at any time, even if he exaggerated its positive qualities.
Stefan Zweig, another Jewish author from the circle of Jung Wien, was also
interested in the Prater. He too saw it as a typically Viennese place that was
nevertheless distinct and shielded from the rest of the city. It therefore enabled
social interactions that seemed impossible in other locations. Hillary Hope Her-
zog argues that, in a sense, Zweig thought of the Prater as a space similar to the
Wild West, in that prevailing norms were suspended there. In a description of
the horse races that took place at the Prater, Zweig describes how the onlookers
turned into a frantic, wild mass during the competition, deteriorating into a
frenzy together. Th
rough this collective experience, the diff
erences between the
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Entangled Entertainers
Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
- Title
- Entangled Entertainers
- Subtitle
- Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
- Author
- Klaus Hödl
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-78920-031-7
- Size
- 14.86 x 23.2 cm
- Pages
- 196
- Categories
- Geschichte Vor 1918
- International
Table of contents
- Introduction 1
- 1. Jews in Viennese Popular Culture around 1900 as Research Topic 13
- 2. Jewish Volkssänger and Musical Performers in Vienna around 1900 44
- 3. Jewishness and the Viennese Volkssänger 78
- 4. Jewish Spaces of Retreat at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 121
- 5. From Difference to Similarity 148
- Conclusion 163
- Bibliography 166
- Index 179