Inciting Laughter: The Development of Jewish Humor in 19th Century German Culture

340 Pages·1999·8.437 MB·English

by  Jefferson S. Chase

Jefferson S. Chase
Inciting Laughter
W
DE
G
European Cultures
Studies in Literature and the Arts
Edited by
Walter Pape
Köln
Editorial Board:
Philip Brady f, London · Keith Bullivant, Gainesville
Frederick Burwick, Los Angeles · Peter de Bolla, Cambridge
Mark Galliker, Heidelberg · Joachim Gessinger, Potsdam
Marian Hobson, London · Günter Jerouschek, Jena
François Lecercle, Lyon · Carlo Ossola, Torino
Terence James Reed, Oxford · Elinor S. Shaffer, London
Barbara Stafford, Chicago
Volume 12
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
2000
Jefferson S. Chase
Inciting Laughter
The Development of "Jewish Humor"
in 19th Century German Culture
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
2000
θ Printed on acid-free paper
which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure
permanence and durability.
Die Deutsche Bibliothek — CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Chase, Jefferson S.:
Inciting laughter : the development of "Jewish humor" in 19th century
German culture / Jefferson S. Chase. - Berlin ; New York : de Gruyter, 2000
(European cultures ; Vol. 12)
ISBN 3-11-016299-7
© Copyright 1999 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, in-
cluding photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without per-
mission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in Germany
Printing: Werner Hildebrand, Berlin
Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer GmbH, Berlin
Cover design: Rudolf Hübler, Berlin
Cover illustration: Contemporary prints of Börne, Saphir, and Heine
Acknowledgements
This book is the product of four years of research and writing, and I'd like
to take the opportunity to thank those who helped me during that time.
Above all this volume owes its existence to the Berlin Program for Ad-
vanced German and European Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin,
where I spent 18 months as a postdoctoral fellow. My particular gratitude
goes out to Ingeborg Mehser, the administrator of the Program in Berlin,
and to Justin Powell in New York. I'd also like to thank the director Pro-
fessor Martin Kohli and all my colleagues there, especially Robin Hoddess,
Jonathan Zatlin and Mike Allen, who read parts of the manuscript. Further
thanks go out to Sondra Hausner for initially alerting me to the grant. The
Berlin Program provides a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary research
and exchange, and I can only hope that it will exist for many years to
come. I'd also like to thank the DAAD for its initial support in Berlin.
Moreover, I'd like to express my gratitude to and affection for Lara Bre-
kenfeld and all the wonderful friends I met in Berlin. The same applies to
my colleagues in Nottingham, especially Greg Mason, who proofread the
manuscript. For various reasons, I'm indebted to Melody Aylor and Bren-
da Sprouse in Charlottesville and Liberty and Anna-Lou Aldrich in New
York.
Thanks are also due to Dr. Brigitte Schöning at Walter de Gruyter and
Professor Dr. Walter Pape of the Universität zu Köln for their friendly and
helpful suggestions about my work.
This book is jointly dedicated to my two main mentors in the field of
Germanistik, Ben Bennett and Walter Sokel of the University of Virginia.
It is, I believe, written very much in the spirit of numerous arguments held
in the departmental office.
Nottingham, July 1999 Jefferson S. Chase

Contents
CHAPTER 1
Vicious Circles: Judenwitz as Stereotype and Strategy 1
Humor as crux of majority/minority identity 5
Judenwitz as Sign of German Particularity 11
Conclusion 17
CHAPTER 2
The Pamphlet War: Moritz Gottlieb Saphir in Berlin 1826-30 20
Saphir's arriva1 and the beginning of the conflict 23
Humor as battleground 37
The legacy of the pamphlet war 61
CHAPTER 3
The Handle and The Blade: Ludwig Börne's Serious Humor 64
Börne's attitudes toward Jewishness and humor 69
Börne as arts critic 81
Affinities between Börne and Menzel 91
Börne's "direct" political writings 99
The anti-Judenwitz backlash 104
Menzel as Börne apologist 114
Börne's response 117
The Börne-Menzel estrangement 123
Börne's final shift 133
Börne's individual reception 136
CHAPTER 4
"Who Gets the Job Now?" Heinrich Heine and the J. G. Cotta
Publishing House 139
Heine's early contact with Cotta 144
Judenwitz and literary talent 149
The Baths of Lucca 157
The backlash against The Baths of Lucca and its influence on Cotta ... 173
Atta Troll 180
Cotta's neglect and Heine's individual reception 189
Vili Contents
CHAPTER 5
Reading for the Plot: Judenwitz in and as Literary History 193
The core myth of German literary history 195
The adaptation of the myth over time 207
Continuity and caesura 222
CONCLUSION 224
TRANSLATIONS 229
Introduction 231
Moritz Gottlieb Saphir
From: The Killed-Off Yet Still Alive and Kicking M. G. Saphir,
or: Thirteen Dramatic Poets and a Magician Against One Lone Editor . 232
From: Come Here! or: Dear Public, Look and Trust Whom You Please 235
On Witz 238
On Börne" 241
Ludwig Börne
The Jews in Frankfurt am Main 244
Theater Reviews 247
From: Monograph of the German Post Snail:
A Contribution to the Natural History of Mollusks and Testaceans .... 253
From: Letters from Paris 259
From: Menzel, the Frenchmen's Scourge 262
Heinrich Heine
The Baths of Lucca 266
Bibliography
Primary Sources 313
Secondary Sources 317
Index 327
Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its
songs either.
Mark Twain.