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erous nature of language is also the message of a popular antisemitic short story
written by the German psychiatrist and author Oskar Panizza (1853–1921),
published in 1893 under the title “Th
e Operated Jew.”4 In it, the main pro-
tagonist, Itzig Faitel Stern, undergoes surgery and blood transfusion to discard
his externally recognizable Jewish nature. He also converts to Protestantism. His
life after the operation, especially his professional career, is as a result crowned
with success. Ultimately, he even wins the heart of a “blonde German woman.”
During the wedding, however, Itzig Faitel Stern’s latent Jewishness returns with
a vengeance. His concealed Jewish identity resurfaces above all in how he speaks.
In a state of exasperation, his “high-pitched, tinny voice” returns and he shouts,
“Kéllnererera! . . . Kéllnererera! – Champágnerera! – What’s it called? – Shall I
have nothing to drink? – Am I not as good and worthwhile as you all!”5 Th
e wed-
ding guests are deeply disturbed by the revelation of Stern’s Jewishness and hastily
abandon the festivities. Only a few remaining people witness Itzig Faitel Stern’s
entire transformation back into a “Jew.” Th
e groom’s metamorphosis is not just
linguistic, but his pre-op “Jewish” physical characteristics also return in full force.
His blond hair begins to curl and turn blue-black, his limbs regain their previous
crookedness, and in the end, he even releases the foetor ju
daicus, the dreaded
“Jewish stench.” But the central distinguishing feature that betrays his Jewishness
in the fi rst place is his idiosyncratic use of language.
Although Hirsch’s portrayal of Jewish linguistic particularity and its function
as an urgent feature of Jewishness repeats a well-known anti-Jewish stereotype, he
does not, however, leave it at that. As has been the case in most of the farces I have
discussed thus far, Hirsch’s depiction of language as an inclusive characteristic
for the determination of being Jewish, which does not establish an unchanging
diff
erence between Jews and non-Jews, also in turn problematizes the role of
language as an essential criterion of distinguishing between Jews and non-Jews.
We can see this in Th
e Apostle of Schottenfeld in the conversation between Bruno
and Father Lorenz. When Bruno tells him that he is destitute, he uses the term
stier (br
oke). Since Father Lorenz is unfamiliar with this word, Bruno attempts
to explain it by saying, “Because I’m in Dalles [p
overty].”6 Th is phrase is equally
incomprehensible to the priest. Bruno adds that people say stier in Schottenfeld
and Dalles in Leopoldstadt. Th
e Jews of the Leopoldstadt therefore have a dis-
tinct mode of expression; they are at least partially linguistically diff erent from
the rest of Viennese society. At the same time, there are also distinctions among
non-Jews. Bruno’s use of the word stier points to a sociolect partly unknown to
Father Lorenz. Even diff
erent non-Jewish groups in Vienna do not always seem
to understand each other. In this context, language does not indicate any ethnic
affi
liation, but possesses a social potential for distinction. In Hirsch’s farce, a Jew
explains to a Catholic priest the meaning of a term used in his own parish. If the
use of language marks a gap between people, then this gulf is, in this case, more
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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