Full Description
This superb collection presents more than forty incisive portraits of leading Jewish thinkers, artists, scientists, and other public figures of the last hundred years who, in their own unique ways, engaged with and helped shape the modern world. Makers of Jewish Modernity features entries on political figures such as Walther Rathenau, Rosa Luxemburg, and David Ben-Gurion; philosophers and critics such as Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, Jacques Derrida, and Judith Butler; and artists such as Mark Rothko. The book provides fresh insights into the lives and careers of novelists like Franz Kafka, Saul Bellow, and Philip Roth; the filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen; social scientists such as Sigmund Freud; religious leaders and thinkers such as Avraham Kook and Martin Buber; and many others. Written by a diverse group of leading contemporary scholars from around the world, these vibrant and frequently surprising portraits offer a global perspective that highlights the multiplicity of Jewish experience and thought.
A reference book like no other, Makers of Jewish Modernity includes an informative general introduction that situates its subjects within the broader context of Jewish modernity as well as a rich selection of photos.
Contents
1. Introduction: Thinking Jewish Modernity, 1 Jacques Picard, Jacques Revel, Michael P. Steinberg, Idith Zertal 2. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Judaism Essential and Mysterious, 16 Lydia Flem 3. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917): Modern Society and the Jews, 30 Bruno Karsenti 4. Theodor Herzl (1860-1904): Sovereignty and the Two Palestines, 46 Raef Zreik 5. Simon Dubnow (1860-1941): Reluctant Secularism, 61 Dan Diner 6. Bernard Lazare (1865-1903): Radical Modernism and Jewish Identity, 75 Nathaniel Berman 7. Avraham Yitzhak Ha-Cohen Kook (1865-1935): Revelation and Redemption, 92 Yehudah Mirsky 8. Aby Warburg (1866-1929): "Thinking Jewish" in Modernity, 108 Griselda Pollock 9. Walther Rathenau (1867-1922): Bildung, Prescription, Prophecy, 126 Leon Botstein 10. Else Lasker-Schuler (1869-1945): Poetic Redemption, 144 Vivian Liska 11. Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919): Universalism and Particularism, 159 Kevin B. Anderson and Peter Hudis 12. Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951): Sonic Allegories, 173 Ruth HaCohen 13. Martin Buber (1878-1965): The Theopolitical Hour, 187 Christoph Schmidt 14. Albert Einstein (1879-1955): Solidarity and Ambivalence, 204 Robert Schulmann 15. Horace Kallen (1882-1974): Pragmatic Modernism, 220 Jacques Picard 16. Franz Kafka (1883-1924): Writing in Motion, 233 Galili Shahar 17. David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973): The Politicization of the Jews, 249 Yar on Ezrahi 18. Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929): On the Idea of Diaspora, 265 Peter E. Gordon 19. Rene Cassin (1887-1976): Human Rights and Jewish Internationalism, 278 Samuel Moyn 20. Shmuel Yoseph Agnon (1888-1970): Baptism by Fire, 292 Ariel Hirschfeld 21. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940): Anti-apocalyptic World Politics, 306 Astrid Deuber-Mankowsky 22. Peretz Markish (1895-1952): Modern Marxist and Yiddishist, 320 David Shneer and Robert Adler Peckerar 23. Gershom Scholem (1897-1982): Mystical Modernism, 335 David Biale 24. Leo Strauss (1899-1973): Protestant Judaism and Its Islamic Remedy, 350 Leora F. Batnitzky 25. Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994): A Believer's Voyage, 364 Avi Sagi 26. Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969): Auschwitz and Commodity Fetishism, 379 Moshe Zuckermann 27. Mark Rothko (1903-1970): Beyond Absence, 393 Ulrike Gehring 28. Elias Canetti (1905-1994): A Difficult Contemporary, 407 Galin Tihanov 29. Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1995): Tradition and Its Other, 423 Raphael Zagury-Orly 30. Hannah Arendt (1906-1975): Being in the Present, 436 Martine Leibovici 31. Arnaldo Momigliano (1908-1987): Judaism Past and Present, 450 Silvia Berti 32. Simone Weil (1909-1943): A Jewish Thinker?, 466 Maud S. Mandel 33. Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997): Unpretentious Passion, 480 Yuli Tamir 34. Nathan Alterman (1910-1970): Poetry National and Political, 493 Hannan Hever 35. Saul Bellow (1915-2005): Athens and Jerusalem, 507 Steven Jaron 36. Primo Levi (1919-1987): Memory and Enlightenment, 520 Enzo Traverso 37. Paul Celan (1920-1970): The Word Proscribed, 535 Arnau Pons 38. Clarice Lispector (1920-1977): A Woman of Spirit, 550 Nelson H. Vieira 39. Juan Gelman (1930-2014): The Bereaved Bird, 564 Pablo Kirtchuk 40. Jacques Derrida (1930-2004): Judeities, 583 Joseph Cohen 41. Philip Roth (1933-): Writing the American Jewish Century, 597 Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi 42. Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936-2005): Poetry, Power, Powerlessness, 613 Chana Kronfeld and Chana Bloch 43. Joel and Ethan Coen (1954-/ 1957-): Finding Rabbi Marshak, 629 Daniel Herwitz 44. Judith Butler (1956-): Between Ethics and Politics, 642 Bonnie Honig and John Wolfe Ackerman Acknowledgments 655 List of Contributors (Editors and Authors) 657 Illustration Credits 661 Index 663
