0519516 - ÚDU 2020 RIV SK eng J - Journal Article
Soukupová, Blanka
The Construction, Verbalisation and Visualisation of the 'Jewish Threat' in Czech Society in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries.
Etnologické rozpravy. Roč. 26, č. 1 (2019), s. 86-103. ISSN 1335-5074
R&D Projects: GA MK(CZ) DG18P02OVV039
Keywords : Jews * Germans * anti-German sentiment * anti-Semitism * visualisation of the enemy
OECD category: Arts, Art history
Method of publishing: Metadata only

In the late l9th and early 20th centuries societies around Europe were dominated by feelings of insecurity and fear. These feelings stemmed from the effects of modernisation, which had undermined traditional forms of 'order'. Industrialisation and the acompanying process of urbanisation continued to advance, and the social and political differences in society grew deeper. In multi-ethnic states conflicts grew between ethnic groups, and increasingly secularised societies the lower social classes began to influence political culture. Under these circumstances a large part of society was driven to look for an enemy who could held responsible for thę curent state of affairs in a society gripped by insecurity. Across Europe there began to be rapid and deep moves towards blaming the Jews - the eternal and traditional enemy ('the sacrificial lamb of European society'). Czech society was no exception. The years 1895–1907 inscribed themselves in history as the 'golden age ' of 'Czech' antisemitism, which famous culminated in the 'Hilsner affair' (1899–1900). This text analyses how the 'Jewish threat' was constructed and the meanings that were attached to it different branches of Czech antisemitism and includes an analysis of contemporary visualisations of the Jews.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0304485