The Anti-journalist

In turn-of-the-century Vienna, Karl Kraus created a bold new style of media criticism, penning incisive satires that provoked both admiration and outrage. This work overturns this view, showing how Kraus' most controversial criticisms form the center of a radical and productive model of German-Jewish self-fashioning.

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In turn-of-the-century Vienna, Karl Kraus created a bold new style of media criticism, penning incisive satires that provoked both admiration and outrage. Kraus' spectacularly hostile critiques often focused on his fellow Jewish journalists, which led to a reputation as the quintessential self-hating Jew. "The Anti-Journalist" overturns this view with unprecedented force and sophistication, showing precisely how Kraus' most controversial criticisms form the center of a radical and productive model of German-Jewish self-fashioning. Paul Reitter's study of Kraus' writings situates them in the context of fin-de-siecle German-Jewish intellectual society. He argues that rather than stemming from anti-Semitism, Kraus' attacks constituted a constructive critique of mainstream German-Jewish strategies for assimilation. Marshalling three of the most daring German-Jewish authors - Kafka, Scholem, and Benjamin - Reitter explains their admiration for Kraus' project and demonstrates his influence on their own notions of cultural authenticity.
"The Anti-Journalist" is at once a new interpretation of a fascinating figure and a heady exploration of an important stage in the history of German-Jewish thinking about identity.