Representing the Other: Jews in German Texts from 1500 to Present

Thomas Kovach
Fall 2022
Tuesdays |  
1 PM - 3 PM (AZ Time)
October 11, 18, 25, November 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, December 6, and 13, 2022 (Revised Start Date)
Course Format: Hybrid
Location: Online
Tuition: $295

Please Note: The course dates have been adjusted from those listed in our fall brochure in order to avoid Jewish High Holy Days. The course will now begin on October 11 rather than September 27. We hope this makes the course more accessible to everyone wishing to participate. See you in class!

This seminar will examine the ways in which Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness have been represented in German works from 1500 to the present. We will view the different ways in which Jews are portrayed, ranging from the imperfectly assimilated community member to the inscrutable alien, from the moral exemplar to the menace to the community. The readings will be placed in the context of Jewish settlement in and assimilation to the German-speaking world, as well as various forms of Gentile resistance to this settlement and assimilation, ranging from the traditional religiously-based anti-Judaism to the economically based resentment of the Jew as usurer or exploiter, to the nationally based ostracism of the Jew as non-German in the early nineteenth century, to the racially motivated antisemitism of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Texts will range from those trying to combat anti-Jewish prejudice to blatantly antisemitic texts, with some very ambiguous ones.

Online Only Course Format

  • All classes will be delivered online via Zoom.
  • Online students may attend all classes via live video streaming on Zoom and will be able to participate in all course Q&A sessions with the professor in real time. Students may also access class recordings for a limited time to assist those who may not be able to attend the live class times. Online access will be password protected and only available to enrolled students.

Registration Will Open Online:
Monday, August 29, 2022, at 8 AM (AZ Time)

Required Reading
  • Andersch, Efraim’s Book (New Dimensions)
  • Film: Go for Zucker (available on DVD, Netflix, Kanopy, and Prime Video.)
  • Additional readings available on the HSP learning portal.

Meet Your Instructor

Professor Emeritus

THOMAS KOVACH is Professor Emeritus in the Department of German Studies. He got his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature with a German emphasis at Princeton and came to the University of Arizona in 1994, where he headed the German Studies Department from 1994 to 2004. Much of his teaching has centered on German-Jewish issues, both German-Jewish writers and the way Jews have been portrayed in texts by non-Jewish Germans through the ages.

Location

THIS COURSE WILL BE OFFERED ONLINE ONLY

Classes will be live streamed during the time and dates specified in the course details section above. Instructions about how to access the course online will be sent to all enrolled students before the course begins.

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