Abstract
El presente artículo examina el uso de las fotografías en el libro de Moritz Levy, dedicado a la historia de los sefardíes de Bosnia, que fue publicado en 1911. Aunque las fotografías acompañan la narrativa histórica intentando demostrar la preservación y continuidad de la identidad singular de los sefardíes bosnios a lo largo de los siglos, fueron, como se demuestra en el artículo, claramente una creación moderna. Visualmente destacadas e impregnadas de esteticismo, y fundadas en los álbumes oficiales otomanos de fotografía promocional, las orientalizadas imágenes austro-húngaras de la Bosnia ocupada y el nuevo arte judío. Como el resultado de esa novedad el libro de Levy sirvió de modelo para la representación de los sefardíes bosnios en las publicaciones judías yugoslavas posteriores. Sin embargo, debido a los eventos históricos turbulentos en la región, esas imágenes fueron politizadas y asumieron un papel conmemorativo y recientemente también han inspirado una renovación.
Highlights
MIRJAM RAJNERIn 1911 Moritz Levy, a young Jewish scholar and Sarajevo’s future Sephardic chief rabbi, published the book Sephardim in Bosnia, a Contribution to the History of Jews on the Balkan Peninsula. 1 Levy’s book was the first attempt to present the history of the Sephardic community living in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 16th century
Prominent and imbued with an aestheticized quality, they relied on Ottoman official albums of promotional photography, Austro-Hungarian orientalized images of occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the new Jewish art
In the aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the establishment of new nation-states in the region – these photographs of the traditional Bosnian Sephardic Jews carry a message of renewal
Summary
In 1911 Moritz Levy, a young Jewish scholar and Sarajevo’s future Sephardic chief rabbi, published the book Sephardim in Bosnia, a Contribution to the History of Jews on the Balkan Peninsula. 1 Levy’s book was the first attempt to present the history of the Sephardic community living in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 16th century. While some photographs showed preserved Jewish manuscripts, or depicted Jewish sites, such as Sarajevo’s old Jewish quarter, the city’s first Sephardic synagogue and the graveyard, the majority showed “Sephardic types” – Jewish men and women dressed in traditional clothes, or shown working or shopping at Sarajevo’s old Turkish market While they accompany the historical narrative and aim to prove the preservation and continuity of Sephardic tradition through the centuries, in attempt to strengthen the unique Bosnian Sephardic identity, the photographs included in Levy’s book were, as the article argues, very much a modern creation. VISUALIZING THE PAST: THE ROLE OF IMAGES IN FOSTERING THE SEPHARDIC IDENTITY... 267
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