Geteilte Erinnerung: Beiträge zur deutsch-jüdischen Gegenwart by Salomon Korn (review)

Abstract

554 Reviews University of Kent at Canterbury, and I cannot discern any organizing principle. For example, the eight contributions that deal with pre-twentieth-century texts are numbers 1-3, 12-14, 18, and 28. Far from covering the topic, the essays devoted to the nineteenth century omit Gustav Freytag, Wilhelm Raabe, and the century's most popular and prolific author, Luise Muhlbach. There is almost no discussion of the status of the genre, nor any sustained explanation of why so many readers found (and find) historical fiction so compelling. Overall, nothing seems to be at stake, except for the 'assumption', otherwise unexplored, 'that historical novels are involved in a journey through the dimensions of time and space' (p. iv). It is not even clear whether the travellers are primarily authors or readers. Notwithstanding my objections to the (lack of) framework, this volume contains a large proportion of genuinely useful and interesting material. It begins with Gunter Muhlberger'sand Kurt Habitzel's account ofwhat they have learnt fromthe database ofhistorical novels 1780-1945 thathas been assembled at the University of Innsbruck. To cite but one example, backed by hard data, of what we now know with certainty: 'Between 1780 and 1870 there is a dramatic rise in public interest in subjects deal? ing with modern and contemporary history' (p. 16). Their four graphics (21-24) merit a long and careful look. I also found Stefan Neuhaus's 'Funf Thesen zum Gattungsbegriff' quite useful, although on furtherreflection, the notion 'daB die historischen Romane, die zum Literaturkanon zahlen, auch Zeitromane sind' (p. 211), seems both circular and obvious, since few historical novels have made it into the canon and since everything, in my estimation, is always also an imaginary answer to questions that arise in the author's own times. Quite a few authors make convincing cases forauthors and novels that are too often overlooked or not considered historical, e.g. Christa Heine Teixeira on Lion Feuchtwanger 's Der falsche Nero and Robert Halsall's examination of Hermann Broch's Die Schlafwandler as historical fiction. No fewer than six essays treating historical novels fromthe GDR argue, in essence, that the time is ripe fora reappraisal ofthe scope and purpose of the genre there, and Carl Tighe has interesting things to say about what he calls the 'future-historical' (p. 451), i.e. the novels that speculate about the repercussions ifHitler had chosen a differentcareer or ifthe Germans had won the Second World War. In these and in the essays that space prevents me from mentioning, the collection's authors expand the definition of historical fictionand make a case fortak? ing historical novels seriously. This is not a volume that one should read from start to finish,but itcontains a wealth ofmaterial that is well worth perusing. The essays could as easily have appeared in random journals, but, given the shortage of such outlets, we probably should welcome such assemblages while still hoping formore coherence. Lawrence University Brent O. Peterson Geteilte Erinnerung: Beitrdge zur deutsch-judischen Gegenwart. By Salomon Korn. Berlin: Philo. 2001. 265 pp. ?15. ISBN 3-8257-0141-7 (pbk). Strictly speaking, this book is not a collection of academic essays. However, itdeserves to be reviewed here because it collects speeches and essays by one of the leading con? temporary German-Jewish public figures. Salomon Korn is not only a well-known architect and member of the Central Council of Jews in Germany but also a prolific commentator on German-Jewish relations. Covering the period from 1986 to 1999, the twenty-seven texts contained in this volume address the question of a Jewish iden? tity in Germany and, more generally, the development of German-Jewish relations before and after unification. Korn's investigations are guided by the following two premisses: firstly, that the historicization ofthe Holocaust is inevitable; secondly, that MLRy 99.2, 2004 555 unification has fundamentally affected Jewish identity in Germany. These premisses are explored in fivethematic blocks. The firstsection, on architecture and Jewishness, analyses the history ofsynagoguesin Germany. While nineteenth-century eclecticism, which often combined neo-Gothic with neo-Islamic elements, reflectedthe attempt to combine a Jewish religious identity with the idea of Germanness, afterthe Holocaust the prayer...