Event Date
Crime and the Experience of the Everyday in Jewish and non-Jewish Relations.
In my talk I seek to ascertain the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in Vienna around 1900. The central question that I consider asks whether an in-depth exploration of people’s everyday practices problematizes the predominant historical narrative that portrays Jews as preferring to keep their distance from non-Jews, which is to say, they were disinclined to socialize with their non-Jewish surroundings. To identify historical evidence that highlights the need to revise this narrative, I have examined numerous police files and court records.
Since the findings of the analysis attest to manifold and close contacts between members of the two groups that challenge the conception of Jews’ social detachment, I examine circumstances that facilitated the intermingling of Jews and non-Jews or fostered their readiness to live in close proximity.
About the speaker
Professor Klaus Hödl works at the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Graz, Austria. He has taught in Israel, China, and the United States. He is the author of several books and many articles in the fields of eastern and central European Jews, Jewish historiography and Jewish/non-Jewish relations. His latest book, Entangled Entertainers, was published by Berghahn. He is currently the Max Kade Visiting Professor at UC Davis (Winter 2022).