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The Jewish Self-Image in the West
Contributor(s): Berkowitz, Michael (Author)
ISBN: 0814798616     ISBN-13: 9780814798614
Publisher: New York University Press
OUR PRICE:   $88.11  
Product Type: Hardcover
Published: May 2000
Qty:
Annotation: From horned devils to greedy money lenders, images have been used as weapons against Jews for thousands of years. Even photojournalist social reformers of the early twentieth century reinforced derogatory stereotypes of Jews as wretched, immoral, and dirty. Little attention has focused, however, on the ways in which Jews themselves have attempted to counteract these views and to construct their own ethnic and political identities.

In The Jewish Self-Image in the West, Michael Berkowitz examines dozens of visual renderings from the fin-de-sicle to the beginning of the Second World War to argue that Jews have exercised some control over representations of their own national communities and aspirations. In the decades before the Holocaust, organized segments of Jewry enthusiastically appropriated modern media in order to exert a greater influence over their public images.

Presenting photographs and graphic images by Jews as attempts to disrupt or undermine prevailing perceptions, Berkowitz reconstructs the development of the Jewish self-image in the West over a crucial half-century.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | Jewish - General
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General
- Religion | Judaism - General
Dewey: 920.009
LCCN: 99041831
Physical Information: 0.56" H x 6" W x 9" (0.89 lbs) 176 pages
Themes:
- Ethnic Orientation - Jewish
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

From horned devils to greedy money lenders, images have been used as weapons against Jews for thousands of years. Even photojournalist social reformers of the early twentieth century reinforced derogatory stereotypes of Jews as wretched, immoral, and dirty. Little attention has focused, however, on the ways in which Jews themselves have attempted to counteract these views and to construct their own ethnic and political identities.
In The Jewish Self-Image in the West, Michael Berkowitz examines dozens of visual renderings from the fin-de-si cle to the beginning of the Second World War to argue that Jews have exercised some control over representations of their own national communities and aspirations. In the decades before the Holocaust, organized segments of Jewry enthusiastically appropriated modern media in order to exert a greater influence over their public images.
Presenting photographs and graphic images by Jews as attempts to disrupt or undermine prevailing perceptions, Berkowitz reconstructs the development of the Jewish self-image in the West over a crucial half-century.

Contributor Bio(s): Berkowitz, Michael: -

MICHAEL BERKOWITZ is a Reader in Modern Jewish History in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College, London.