Leon Pinsker and &lt;em&gt;“Autoemancipation!”&lt;/em&gt;: A Reevaluation

Shumsky, Dimitry

doi:10.2979/jewisocistud.18.1.33

Cited by 24 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Pinsker championed the equality of civil rights for Russian Jews as subjects of the Russian Empire and as members of a distinct national and ethnic group. 23 During the wave of pogroms in Russia, Pinsker traveled to France, England, Austro-Hungary, and Germany, where he discussed the crisis of Russian Jewry with several major figures. The British member of Parliament Arthur Cohen urged Pinsker to write down and publish his thoughts, which he did during his stay in Berlin in the fall of 1882.…”

Section: Pinsker and Autoemancipation!mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By establishing Jewish selfgovernment, Jews in different parts of the world would enjoy civic equality based on the principle of reciprocity among independent nations. 42 Moreover, Pinsker's pamphlet echoed Hegelian philosophy, particularly when depicting the Jewish national cause as a struggle for "recognition" (Anerkennung) and when decrying the Jews' loss of "national self-consciousness" (nationales Selbstbewußtsein). 43 Last, Pinsker's text took advantage of German's prestige by embracing scientific, empirical, and medical jargon.…”

Section: Marc Volovicimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leon Pinsker'sAutoemancipation!and the Emergence of German as a Language of Jewish Nationalism

Volovici

2017

Cent Eur Hist

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This article examines the role of the German language in early Jewish nationalism. It focuses on the publication, reception, and afterlife of the pamphletAutoemancipation!, published in 1882 by Leon Pinsker, a Russian Jewish doctor. The first Jewish nationalist pamphlet to be written in German by a Russian Jew, its rhetoric and terminology tapped into various Jewish and European discourses of emancipation. Pinsker not only challenged the legal-political conception of emancipation as it had been commonly used in German-Jewish discourse, but also mobilized its social and revolutionary connotations, which had been associated with radical European political movements since 1848. Moreover,Autoemancipation!marked a shift in Jewish political culture with regard to the potential function of the German language. Since the late eighteenth century and through the nineteenth century, German had a controversial status in Central and Eastern European Jewish societies given its association with Jewish Enlightenment, religious reform, secularization, and assimilation. Pinsker was the first to use German as a transnational language aimed at promoting the Jewish national cause. In this respect,Autoemancipation!set in motion a process whereby German became the chief language of Jewish nationalist activism.

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Section: Pinsker and Autoemancipation!mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Marc Volovicimentioning

confidence: 99%