Narrated Antisemitism

For a long time, research and public discourse have based the notion of a Jewish world conspiracy on the supposed credibility of the so-called »Protocols of the Elders of Zion«. Yet it is well known that even the forged »Protocols« can be traced back to older texts. One of these texts is John Retcliffe’s »In the Jewish Churchyard in Prague« (1868), in which fictional elements can be identified that constitute the idea of a Jewish world conspiracy to the present day.

From the perspective of literary studies, Julian Timm shows the continuities of the narrative of the ›Jewish World Conspiracy‹ from its literary beginnings in the 19th century to Michael Ende’s children’s book »Wunschpunsch« (1989). He shows how antisemitic fictions are still reproduced today – (un)consciously and beyond literature – and how a formerly literary narrative can repeatedly become a legitimizing narrative for antisemitic and racist acts of violence, such as in Halle or Hanau.

Julian Timm, born in 1985, studied German, Philosophy and Education at the University of Kassel, where he received his doctorate on »Narrated Antisemitism«. He is a freelance consultant in political education with a focus on anti-Semitism in an educational context and works as a teacher.