On Jews and Antisemitism
Comino Verlag, Berlin 2022
ISBN 9783945831328,
Kartoniert, 304Seiten, 16,00 EUR
Klappentext
Herausgegeben von Paul Seeliger. George Orwell's relationship to Jews has been a recurring topic in various essays and articles. Texts with an antisemitic slant, as well as texts with a determined rejection of antisemitism, from different periods of his career, are quoted. However, this does not allow for a reliable overall picture because often only well-known passages appear while Orwell's contradictory, less well-known statements are overlooked or simply ignored. This comprehensive and extensively annotated compilation of texts by Orwell, an author who is respected and admired for always defending human rights without restraint, regardless of who exercised power, is intended to give an idea of what he actually wrote on Jews and antisemitism and how it was discussed. It covers his fictional and non-fictional writing from his early works on and presents the obvious antisemitic streak at the beginning, the war-time publications denouncing the atrocities against Jews by Germans, his 1945 essay "Anti-Semitism in Britain", his experiences as a war reporter in Germany when he was confronted with Jews who had survived and defeated Germans, and his comments about the increasing conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine under the British Mandate. The chronological order of this compilation facilitates following Orwell's evolving attitudes to Jews and antisemitism.
Herausgegeben von Paul Seeliger. George Orwell's relationship to Jews has been a recurring topic in various essays and articles. Texts with an antisemitic slant, as well as texts with a determined rejection of antisemitism, from different periods of his career, are quoted. However, this does not allow for a reliable overall picture because often only well-known passages appear while Orwell's contradictory, less well-known statements are overlooked or simply ignored. This comprehensive and extensively annotated compilation of texts by Orwell, an author who is respected and admired for always defending human rights without restraint, regardless of who exercised power, is intended to give an idea of what he actually wrote on Jews and antisemitism and how it was discussed. It covers his fictional and non-fictional writing from his early works on and presents the obvious antisemitic streak at the beginning, the war-time publications denouncing the atrocities against Jews by Germans, his 1945 essay "Anti-Semitism in Britain", his experiences as a war reporter in Germany when he was confronted with Jews who had survived and defeated Germans, and his comments about the increasing conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine under the British Mandate. The chronological order of this compilation facilitates following Orwell's evolving attitudes to Jews and antisemitism.
Rezensionsnotiz zu
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 13.04.2023
Dass George Orwell in seinen Klassikern wie "1984" oder "Down and Out in Paris and London" ein ums andere Mal antisemitische Stereotype verbreitet hat, ist dem Rezensenten Tobias Döring nicht neu. Das, so Döring, gibt besonders im Hinblick auf Orwells sonstige, eher linke und oft kontrovers beurteilte politische Ausrichtung Anlass, sich beispielsweise über die Figur Emmanuel Goldstein Gedanken zu machen und antijüdische Kommentare und Schriften einzuordnen. Umso besser, findet er, dass sich der Comino-Verlag mit dem Herausgeber Paul Seeliger der Aufgabe angenommen hat, alle entsprechenden Passagen zu sammeln und so gewinnbringend und aufschlussreich zu kontextualisieren. Der Kritiker ist von der Lektüre völlig eingenommen, auch, weil er einige Gedankenanstöße zu aktuellen Debatten mitnehmen kann.
Dass George Orwell in seinen Klassikern wie "1984" oder "Down and Out in Paris and London" ein ums andere Mal antisemitische Stereotype verbreitet hat, ist dem Rezensenten Tobias Döring nicht neu. Das, so Döring, gibt besonders im Hinblick auf Orwells sonstige, eher linke und oft kontrovers beurteilte politische Ausrichtung Anlass, sich beispielsweise über die Figur Emmanuel Goldstein Gedanken zu machen und antijüdische Kommentare und Schriften einzuordnen. Umso besser, findet er, dass sich der Comino-Verlag mit dem Herausgeber Paul Seeliger der Aufgabe angenommen hat, alle entsprechenden Passagen zu sammeln und so gewinnbringend und aufschlussreich zu kontextualisieren. Der Kritiker ist von der Lektüre völlig eingenommen, auch, weil er einige Gedankenanstöße zu aktuellen Debatten mitnehmen kann.