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Sexuality and alternative discourses in Jewish Prague : a feminist reading of the works of Franz Werfel Item Info
- Title:
- Sexuality and alternative discourses in Jewish Prague : a feminist reading of the works of Franz Werfel
- Creator:
- Spagnuolo, Natalie Rose
- Date Created:
- 2012
- Degree Awarded:
- Master of Arts
- Subjects:
- Jews Study and teaching History, Modern Germanic literature
- Geographical Focus:
- Europe Prague
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- This thesis is concerned with the conceptualization of alternative Jewish masculinities in relation to feminist notions of sexuality in early twentieth century German-speaking central Europe. Specifically, I consider the positive representation of femininity, materiality, sexual desire, and sexual expression in the work of Franz Werfel, a member of the Prague Jewish literary circle. I argue that Werfel refuted popular binarisms that tended to support masculinist thinking and uneven power relations. His writing explores processes of alienation by framing inter- subjectivity in terms of sexual identity. Following a tradition established by the Jewish theologian Martin Buber, Werfel links eroticism to mystical expressions of spirituality and creativity. In order to situate Werfel’s Buberian-derived thought more closely among contemporary theories, I bring his work into conversation with several Austrian Jewish writers while tracing other ideas that contributed to his feminist literature.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Spagnuolo, Natalie Rose. Sexuality and alternative discourses in Jewish Prague : a feminist reading of the works of Franz Werfel. 2012. Carleton University, Master of Arts.
- Reference Link:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_95.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.