Gifts from Jerusalem Jews to the Austro-Hungarian Monarchs : : Identities, Otherness, and Belonging / / Lily Arad.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus DeG Package 2022 Part 1
• VerfasserIn: Arad, Lily ,
• Place / Publishing House: München ;, Wien : : De Gruyter Oldenbourg, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (XV, 428 p.)

Presentations of offerings to the emperor-king on anniversaries of his accession became an important imperial ritual in the court of Franz Joseph I. This book explores for the first time the identity constructions of Orthodox Jewish communities in Jerusalem as expressed in their gifts to the Austro-Hungarian Kaisers at the time of dramatic events. It reveals how the beautiful gifts, their dedications, and their narratives, were perceived by gift-givers and recipients as instruments capable of acting upon various social, cultural and political processes. Lily Arad describes in a captivating manner the historical narratives of the creation and presentation of these gifts. She analyzes the iconography of these gifts as having transformative effect on the self-identification of the Jewish communities and examines their reception by the Kaisers and in the Austrian and the Palestinian Jewish press. This groundbreaking book unveils Jewish cultural and political strategies aimed to create local Eretz-Israel identities, demonstrating distinct positive communal identification which at times expressed national sentiments and at the same time preserved European identification.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Illustrations -- Introduction -- PART I Historical Context -- 1 Three Distinct Scenarios -- 2 Giving and Giving in Return -- PART II The Gifts of Old Yishuv Habsburg Subjects -- 3 Jerusalem in the Gifts of the Old Yishuv -- 4 Historical Perspective: A Chronology of the Gifts to Franz Joseph -- 5 1916 – Gifts to Karl I/IV: Embracing Modernity -- 6 The Uniqueness of Old Yishuv Gifts -- 7 The Receipt of Gifts from the Old Yishuv -- PART III Between History and Story: The Austro-Hungarian Monarchs in Jewish Tradition -- 8 A Mutual Promise and Commitment -- 9 Narratives and Homages: The Construction of Identities, Belonging, and Otherness -- PART IV Discussion: The Old Yishuv Gifts as Venues of Identity Construction -- 10 Constructions and Reconstructions of Identities -- 11 Between Nostalgia and Irony: Franz Joseph in Modern Hebrew Literature -- 12 Place, Memories, and Identities: Closing Remarks -- Bibliography -- Index of Persons -- Index of Subjects -- Index of Sites and Monuments