Description
Book SynopsisMore than half a century after the Holocaust, in countries where Jews make up just a tiny fraction of the population, products of Jewish culture have become very viable components of the popular public domain. But how can there be a growing Jewish presence in Europe, without the significant presence of Jews? The author explores this phenomenon.
Trade Review"A richly documented and insightful deliberation on the dilemma of what to do in places where Jewish culture once flourished, but Jews are no longer to be found or are very few in number....Even where there seems to be a resurgence of Jewish life, it is fragile and fraught. At the same time, Jews from the United States and Israel have their own problematic relationship to the killing fields of Europe and to efforts to 'preserve' the last traces of a Jewish past. This is an altogether fascinating subject and no one is better prepared to write about it than Gruber." -Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, author of Destination Culture
Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Preface Part One: Afterlife 1. Cities without Jews 2. A Virtual Jewish World Part Two: Jewish Archaeology 3. "There Is No Future without Memory" 4. Touching the Past 5. What to Do? Part Three: Museum Judaism? Representing Jewish Culture 6. Seeing Is Believing 7. The Tourist Track 8. Structuring Memory Part Four: Klezmer in the Wilderness 9. Making (and Remaking) Jewish Music 10. Klezmer in Germany 11. Whose Music? Afterword Notes Selected Bibliography Index
