JWST 240 Chapter Notes - Chapter reading: Wilhelm Marr, Indo-European Languages
Document Summary
Antisemitism is a problematic term invented in the 1870s by. German journalist wilhelm marr to describe the hatred of jews. The movement started around the time at germany and soon spread to austria, hungary, france and russia and was a reaction to the emancipation of the jews and their entry into non-jewish society. There was a need to establish a new paradigm for the anti- Jewishness which sounded more neutral, objective and scientific. Jews by virtue of their emancipation had become equal citizens before the law in european societies that had abandoned discrimination based on religious differences. Antisemitism grounded itself in racial and ethnic feelings provided a way around this problem. By focusing the attention on permanent, unchanging characteristics of jews as a social and national group the anti- semites hoped to legitimize jewish equality. The term semitic was derived from the biblical shem, one of.
