Entangled Entertainers

Viennese popular culture at the turn of the 20th century was shaped jointly by Jews and non-Jews alike, though their relationship was not immune to bouts of anti-Semitism. The case studies in this book provide new findings in understanding what it meant to be Jewish among artists, performers and impresarios at the turn of the twentieth century.

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Viennese popular culture at the turn of the twentieth century was the product of the city’s Jewish and non-Jewish residents alike. While these two communities interacted in a variety of ways to their mutual benefit, Jewish culture was also inevitably shaped by the city’s persistent bouts of antisemitism. This fascinating study explores how Jewish artists, performers, and impresarios reacted to prejudice, showing how they articulated identity through performative engagement rather than anchoring it in origin and descent. In this way, they attempted to transcend a racialized identity even as they indelibly inscribed their Jewish existence into the cultural history of the era.