Description
Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be Jewish? What is an anti-Semite? Why does the enigmatic identity of the men who founded the first monotheistic religion arouse such passions? We need to return to the Jewish question.
Trade Review"If, as Joyce wrote, history is a nightmare from which we are trying to awake, this is even truer of the 'Jewish question' – a nightmare made up of myths and prejudice leading to anti-Semitism and to ancient but persistent wars of religion, such as those opposing Arabs and Israelis. By adopting a French focus when revisiting these issues as treated by Marx, Freud, Sartre and Arendt, Roudinesco brilliantly cleans the picture of its fog of obfuscation. Thanks to her intimate knowledge of the facts and actors, we are shown a path to a new understanding; hopefully, it will lead to an awakening."
Jean-Michel Rabaté, University of Pennsylvania "Élisabeth Roudinesco probes the toxic topic of Jew-hatred, ancient, mediaeval and newer, and of modern political anti-Semitism, trying to draw a clear distinction between them; adding to this, she analyses the recent phenomenon – of a totally different character – of anti-Zionism and/or the legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and its politics. The outcome is courageous and timely in its argument for universal and enlightened jewishness; it also offers a highly rich and diverse reading which is full of compelling twists and unexpected, refreshing deliberations."
Idith Zertal, University of BaselTable of ContentsAcknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 Our First Parents 6
2 The Shadow of the Camps and the Smoke of the Ovens 26
3 Promised Land, Conquered Land 49
4 Universal Jew, Territorial Jew 68
5 Genocide between Memory and Negation 93
6 A Great and Destructive Madness 124
7 Inquisitorial Figures 151
Notes 186
Index 232
