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164 | Entangled Entertainers
analyzing the example of Anna Katz, more than a few Jews chose this form of
suicide. Th
e high number of suicides or attempted suicides, carried out in this
manner according to a culturally prescribed pattern, may have been the subject
of heated debate among both Jews and non-Jews in Vienna, explaining why the
theme found its way into the works of Viennese Volkssänger.1
Another frequent theme in these theatrical works is marital discord brought
on by the reversal of traditional gender roles. In these burlesques, women often
steer the course of everyday events in the household and oppress their husbands.
An emblematic example of a play that features this theme is Th e Journey to Gross-
wardein. Lipperl and Maxi fl
ee from their wives because the women behave in
an authoritarian manner and try to dictate their husbands’ behavior through
force. Comic eff
ect may have been one reason why the play depicts the Jew-
ish man as weak and the Jewish woman as masculine. But it also likely served
another purpose. Th
is depiction of “reversed” gender roles also served, I argue,
to invalidate the stereotype of the eff
eminate Jew, a widespread idea in the late
nineteenth century. We see the social relevance of this concept in the fact that
even the sciences, in particular medicine and anthropology, actively engaged with
the stereotype and attempted to substantiate it with facts. In a series of studies,
physicians and anthropologists asserted that certain physical characteristics and
physiological processes were more prevalent among male Jews than among male
non-Jews—qualities that usually characterized non-Jewish women as well. Th
ese
included a low chest circumference, indicating a weak physical condition, the
alleged inability to perform military service, as well as a high susceptibility to
nervous diseases. Th
e feminization of the Jewish man was thus determined by
concrete characteristics, ostensibly proven by empirical evidence.2
Th
e “eff
eminate” Jew is a common trope in Volkssänger theatrical works. We
see this in Th
e Apostle of Schottenfeld in the scene where Mr. Goldmann begins to
totter in the face of Father Lorenz’s request to give him 1,000 gulden. His wife
tersely comments on his reaction, stating, “I’ve known for a long time now that
you are a weakling with no virility.”3 In the play Im Schwarzen Rössl, performed
by the Budapest Orpheum Society in 1899, the Warsaw merchant Kiewe rents a
room in the hotel Im Schwarzen Rössl for a few days with his mistress. As a cover
for this assignation, he tells his wife that he has been summoned for military ex-
ercises. She does not believe him and secretly follows him. When Kiewe catches
sight of his wife descending the stairs at the hotel, he is deeply shocked and afraid
that she will beat him.4 Again, the Jewish woman is portrayed as violent and her
husband as a coward. As a fi nal example, we identify another form of female
dominance in Wrestlers at the Kosher Restaurant (see chapter 2). In this case, there
is no threat of physical violence, but Yentl is mentally superior to her husband
Zalma and therefore regrets marrying him. Zalma is dependent on her and seems
unable to manage the challenges of life without her.
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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