Besprechungen / Reviews 279 2003: «Über den Sinn und Zweck eines Reimwörterbuches ist alles Nötige bereits früher gesagt worden» (305). University of Wisconsin-Parkside Siegfried Christoph H ILLARY H OPE H ERZOG , T ODD H ERZOG and B ENJAMIN L APP (E DS .): Rebirth of a Culture: Jewish Identity and Jewish Writing in Germany and Austria Today. New York: Berghahn Books, 2008. vi + 193 pp. $ 75. As both Todd Herzog and Dagmar C.G. Lorenz observe, the reception of contemporary Germanand Austrian-Jewish writers has so far been limited to two small and distinct audiences: American and German Germanists. Part of the aim of Rebirth of a Culture is to resolve this problem by introducing these authors to a larger English-speaking audience from both a scholarly and a personal perspective. Rebirth of a Culture is the result of a seminar developed and led by Lorenz who also provides an introduction to the volume that does as marvelous a job of highlighting the critical relevance of such a work as it does of sketching the topography of Germanand Austrian-Jewish writing since 1945. The particular strength of this book as a whole lies in its transatlantic scope, probing «cross-fertilization as well as conflicts, intellectual debates that reach beyond the boundaries of German-speaking countries» (1). The collection demonstrates that «Germanand Austrian-Jewish writing at the turn of the millennium is local and global, aware of the interconnectedness of Jewish concerns and world history» (5). These expanding spheres of relevance make it possible for the authors to introduce new and provocative viewpoints on Jewish identity in Europe and North America, which most of the essays in Rebirth of a Culture in fact do. There is so much of value in this book that it is difficult to do it justice in a short review; it offers both an accessible overview as well as in-depth discussion, and my only quibbles with the book arise from a desire to learn more. Rebirth of a Culture is divided into four sections: the first three consisting of scholarly essays, the fourth of a selection of short, original texts by Barbara Honigmann, Esther Dischereit, Jeanette Lander, and Doron Rabinovici. The essays by Cathy S. Gelbin, Petra Fachinger, Richard Bodek, and Hillary Hope Herzog make it clear that the existing historical and geographical categorizations in Germanophone Jewish literary studies need to be reevaluated and new directions to be explored. Particularly vocal in this direction are Gelbin’s article on the trope of the Golem, in which she argues that «it is precisely because of the shared history of the Golem tradition that this trope lends itself to the negotiation of European-Jewish identity on the cusp of a new millennium and political era» (31), and Bodek’s comparison of Stefan Heym’s novels with his obituaries. Bodek’s essay demonstrates that the media attention on Heym’s political affiliation undermined the positions he pursued in his writing and reminds us that the biography and reception of any author are bound to specific moments in history. The impact of the Nazi genocide on the very idea of history prompts Robert Menasse’s layered engagement of historical discourse, as Margy Gerber discusses in her article on Menasse’s Die Vertreibung aus der Hölle. 280 Besprechungen / Reviews Iris Bruce’s historical analysis argues for a global appeal of Kafka while pointing out that transcontinental evocations of Kafka demonstrate clear and important divergences. Her essay makes a strong argument for sustained consideration of the North American reception of German-Jewish authors. Todd Herzog also addresses this issue in his essay, «Literary Encounters between German Jews and Americans.» Arguing, as does Hillary Hope Herzog, that specific urban spaces make certain discussions and questions possible, Herzog moves from the image of America in German-Jewish literature - as both a space of varying degrees of «authentic» Jewishness and a space to argue more freely about what it means to be Jewish after the Holocaust - to German-Jewish literature in America, which enjoys a limited audience but freedom to, as Herzog suggests (and Jeffrey Peck has suggested), assert criticisms and questions that are not possible in Germany. Benjamin Lapp’s introduction to the work and significance of Ruth Klüger and Marcel Reich-Ranicki supports Herzog’s argument. While both writers consciously keep a distance from the land of their native language, their work in literary criticism ultimately preserves a German cultural identity. Challenging Todd Herzog’s argument is Roland Dollinger’s «Anti-Semitism because of Auschwitz,» a portrait of journalist Henryk M. Broder who does pose such questions and criticisms in Germany. The fact that Broder needs an introduction in North America is curious; one would think such a critical voice would have been lionized by a region celebrated for its relative freedom for criticism, and his absence suggests that North America is disturbingly unaware of critical voices abroad. German-Jewish literature may have much to gain from even its limited audience in North America, but North America sorely needs the introduction provided by Rebirth of a Culture. The texts by Honigmann, Dischereit, Lander, and Rabinovici also focus on the significance of estrangement, on multiple and shifting perspectives, and are especially interesting for their stylistic differences. Since the authors themselves were present at the seminar, some discussion of their texts would be welcome, but is, alas, absent. Bettina Brandt’s interview with Barbara Honigmann covers her literary and theatrical history, conventional versus experimental writing, Ostalgie, and being undeniably German in France. Esther Dischereit’s «Behind the Tränenpalast,» an amazingly effective text of disorientation, mixes voices and time frames in a confrontation of divergent viewpoints of objects. Jeanette Lander provides a case study of herself, analyzing the development of her own writing as a Jewish American who came to live in Germany after the war. She critiques her own position of forgiveness and understanding and concludes that her work «hit the wrong note for readers in Germany» (179). The volume ends on an upbeat note in Doron Rabinovici’s short text Mischmasch or Mélange, in which he studies a photograph of his 1976 class in Vienna, observing that «out of the two-sided necessity of not belonging I made a double virtue» (184). Together the four texts galvanize the overall argument of Rebirth of a Culture. The Shoah is still a constant presence, but as historical distance grows and generations with different relationships to the Shoah and its legacy come of age, we must reevaluate and resituate its impact and relevance. This volume, especially in light of its transatlantic scope, is a thrilling step in that direction. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Jennifer M. Hoyer