Conversations on the question of Jewish literature

With this theme, globale° - Festival für grenzüberschreitende Kulture (Festival for Cross-Border Culture) drew guests to an afternoon event at the Institut Français in Bremen – an event held in cooperation with and supported by the alumni association. A reflection on literature and politics.

There is no “one” Jewish literature, rather there are Jewish literatures in multiple languages. To be distinguished from this is the literature of Israel, whose authors do not want to be pigeonholed as “Jewish” writers, according to the Israeli author Ron Segal, who connected via Zoom. This is an apt summary of the insights gained from the afternoon’s lectures, discussions and readings. Neither the author’s affiliation with Judaism nor a specific theme is enough to determine what defines these literatures; the unifying factor is that the writers are part of a diaspora. The lively discussions, in which the Berlin-based author Mirna Funk also participated, were complemented by well-chosen readings from texts by Jewish authors.

One of the participants summed up the event as an invitation to explore this question further. In the face of resurgent anti-Semitism, studying many-voiced Jewish culture is more important today than ever before. The afternoon discussions in the Institut Français helped to open an avenue for continuing this exploration.