Arthur Schnitzler: The Turn of Another Century

Abstract

Arthur Schnitzler: The Turn ofAnother Century RITCHIE ROBERTSON StJohn's College,Oxford 'Ich binJude, ?sterreicher,Deutscher'. Judentum inArthur Schnitzlers Tageb?chern und Briefen. By Bettina Riedmann. (Conditio Judaica 36). T?bingen: Niemeyer. 2002. vi + 475 pp. 82,00. isbn 3-484-65136-9. Arthur Schnitzler ou la Belle ?poque viennoise. By Jacques Le Rider. (Voix allemandes). Paris: Belin. 2003. 256 pp. 14,50. isbn 2-7011-2935-4. Arthur Schnitzler. ?eitgenossenschqfien / Contemporaneities. Ed. by Ian Foster and Florian Krobb (Wechselwirkungen 4). Bern: Lang. 2002. 411 pp. 57,00 (excl. VAT), SFr 89,00. isbn 3-906768-20-1. A Companion to the Worh ofArthur Schnitzler. Ed. by Dagmar C. G. Lorenz. Rochester, NY: Camden House. 2003. xii + 415 pp. $90.00; ?65.00. isbn Arthur Schnitzler and Twentieth-CenturyCriticism. By Andrew C. Wisely. (Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture: Literary Criticism in Perspective) Rochester, NY: Camden House. 2004. + 20i pp. ?50.00; $75.00. isbn ?57113-088-8. Schnitzler's Century. The Making of Middle-Class Culture, 1815-^14. By Peter Gay. New York and London: Norton. 2002. xxix + 334 pp. ?12.95. ISBN o-393-?4893-4 Our understanding of Schnitzler has been immeasurably deepened by the publication, between 1981 and 2000, of his diaries. Covering fifty-two years, they not only give a remarkable and almost unparalleled picture of a life from the inside, but they are also a rich source for cultural history and the history of mentalities, especially when they touch on aspects of Jewishness. Bettina Riedmann is first in the field with a massive and exhaustive monograph, in which Schnitzler's references to anti-Semitism, Judaism, Jewishness, Jewish identity are examined, classified, contextualized and inter preted. Schnitzler monitored public displays of anti-Semitism in his diaries almost as carefully as Karl Kraus did inDie Facfal. Riedmann has valuably 250 ArthurSchnitzler: The Turn of Another Century elucidated these references by extensive quotations from contemporary newspapers. It ismade clear that, thanks not least toKarl Lueger and to such popular preachers as the Jesuit Father Abel, the public discourse of anti-Semitism even in pre-1914 Vienna was shockingly widespread and explicit. Three pages of quotations from Schnitzler's diaries illustrate the per vasiveness of anti-Semitism in everyday life. In documenting the reception of Schnitzler's works, Riedmann goes far towards justifying his self-description as 'der am meisten beschimpfte Dichter deutscher Sprache' {Tagebuch, 19 November 1917).There are astoundingly vitriolic attacks here, especially one from the anti-Semitic paper Kikeriki ostensibly reviewing Freiwild, 'Sauspiel von Aaron Schnitzler' (p. 266). When one considers how many readers must have revelled in this trash,? -de-si?cle Vienna looks remote from Stefan Zweig's 'golden age of security' and much more like the cauldron of ethnic hatredsdescribed by Brigitte Hamann in HitlersWien (1996).Small wonder that late in the war Schnitzler feared pogroms. The furore surrounding Reigen and the riots that broke up two of his post-war public readings are recounted with many extracts from contemporary newspapers. We are also given the full texts of interviews Schnitzler gave to two American papers and one Italian one, where he discourses on anti-Semitism, Zionism and Jewish identity. Schnitzler himself, though reviled as a Jew, showed so litde attachment to Jewish tradition that Riedmann reasonably asks whether anything distin guished his way of life from that of an agnostic Gentile contemporary. She also stresses, however, that Schnitzler, unlike some assimilated Jews, made no attempt to distance himself from Jewishness, and brings out his antipathy towhat he called 'Esoi-Juden' who curried favour with Gentile audiences. By quoting a review by Stefan Grossmann, slavering over a Gentile actress as 'eine deutsche Sch?nheit', Riedmann shows compellingly what Schnitzler meant. She documents in particular (perhaps disproportionate) detail Schnitzler's occasional interest inYiddish theatre performances, drawing on Brigitte Dalinger's recent work on this neglected subject. Schnitzler's sense of Jewish identity is illuminated by many extracts from his diaries which are largely allowed to speak for themselves. Schnitzler's odd but repeated opin ion that no Jew could write a first-rate drama is, however, examined and related primarily to his painfully self-critical view of his own achievement. Much attention...