A study of the Israeli attitude towards Wagner in light of remembrance of the Holocaust and the shape of the new Israeli national identity.

Table of Contents

Contents: Glossary of Political Parties; An End that Marked a Beginning; Legends, Tribes, and Anti-Semitism: Ideas and Issues in Wagner's Work; Racism, Music, and Power: The Nazification of Wagner; Music, Politics, and Morality: The Beginning of the Boycott in Palestine; Toward Germany, Away from Germans; The 1960s: An End to Forgetting -- The Establishment of Symbols; The 1970s: Political Furor, Musical Calm; The 1980s: Xenophobia and Overt Political Intervention; The 1990s: The Last Round; Epilogue: The Commemoration of Wagner in Israel -- Problems and Puzzles; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author

Na'ama Sheffi is the editor of Zmanim (Time), the historical quarterly of Tel Aviv University. She has researched extensively the reception of German culture in the Israeli society, and the shape of Israeli collective memory of the Holocaust.

Reviews

"Sheffi concludes that the choice of Wagner as the target for all their abhorrance of Nazism and the Holocaust 'both sins against the man and obscures the significance of the Holocaust'." -- Choice. "Does an excellent job of showing the historical evolution of the debate, and linking this to the political and ideological evolution of the State of Israel." -- H-Net; H-Genocide. "The reception of German culture in general and Wagner's music in particular is traced to show how the taboo developed alongside the collective memory of the Holocaust... For Sheffi, the dilemma around Wagner reflects the situation of the state of Israel as a whole... She takes the musical debate... and uses it as a mirror to reflect Israeli society today. [The book] shows a profound understanding of how Israeli society emerged and how it functions today." -- The Jewish Quarterly Review.