The Wandering Jew, or the Art of Survival
Publisher
:
Cerf
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782204092364
Number of pages
:
200
Description
The folkloric figure of the Wandering Jew evolved, along with anti-Semitism, in medieval Europe. The original character was said to have been condemned to roam perpetually for having taunted or struck Jesus on the road to Calvary. In this illuminating study, Marcello Massenzio analyzes a fascinating range of depictions of the Wandering Jew myth.
From the thirteenth century onward, the myth of the Wandering Jew embodied dual themes: the Jew who witnessed Christ’s Passion, and anti-Jewish feelings. Massenzio offers in-context explanations of the broadly believed and accepted myth and describes its evolution. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the myth had been appropriated and repurposed by a developing Jewish culture. One notable version appears in a striking series of paintings by Marc Chagall.
Since the Holocaust, the Wandering Jew increasingly has become a symbol of Jewish destiny, more than ever symbolized in Jewish writings and philosophy. Massenzio’s exploration of the establishment and evolution of the Wandering Jew myth, from medieval to modern times, is a fascinating and revealing study in how we can create and then bend beliefs to serve our needs.
Author
Marcello Massenzio : Marcello Massenzio is a professor at the Tor Vergata University in Rome. An anthropologist and historian of religions, he has published works including Sacré et identité technique. Frontières et ordre du Monde (Éditions EHESS, 2000) and a book of interviews, Claude Lévi-Strauss, un itinéraire (L’Echoppe, 2002).
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