In a review-article (2024) the Belgian-American comparativist, Birger Vanwesenbeeck, pointed to what he termed a new "Jewish turn" in recent scholarship pertaining to the Austrian-Jewish writer, Stefan Zweig (1881-1942). While Vanwesenbeeck documented this "turn" in the specific case of Zweig, he did not explain its background, rationale, or implications for future scholarship. It appears that this particular phenomenon in German-language, Jewish literary studies extends beyond the case of one particular author. While Austrian/German-Jewish literary and cultural studies, as well as Austrian/German-Jewish historical scholarship, have attracted much scholarly attention for the last three or four decades, the Jewish dimensions have often been marginalized or neglected, although the plain fact of Jewish heritage ("Abstammung") is usually recorded in specific cases without attributing much or any significance to it. Recently, the importance of specifically Jewish dimensions in literary studies is coming to be acknowledged and investigated more carefully. Several studies have manifested a "Jewish turn" in unexpected places and it is being employed critically, even if belatedly. Whereas a "Jewish focus" or emphasis may have once been widely considered to be a limiting or reductionist approach in literary studies which focus on Jewish literatures in non-Jewish languages, it appears now that by limiting the focus in this specific way, literary scholarship potentially categorized as part of the "Jewish turn" may be seen to enrich the scholarly enterprise. New and exciting readings of a range of different authors, which may be categorized in this manner, are being argued cogently. The reasons which might help explain this phenomenon and its underpinnings need to be explored critically. In this MLA session, the focus is on German-language, Jewish literary studies, which provides some coherence to this session as a whole, without claiming that this phenomenon is exclusively related to German-language, Jewish literary studies alone. However, the implications for its pertinence for scholarship regarding American-Jewish, French-Jewish, and other hyphenated Jewish literatures are apparent.

This session is conceived as a partial continuation -- but also as a critique -- of previous scholarship concerning German-language, Jewish literature. Some of the scholars whose publications have been important in this field and which inform this session include: Sander Gilman, Walter Sokel, Egon Schwarz, Liliane Weissberg, Leslie Morris, Jonathan Hess, Vivian Liska, Ritchie Robertson, Hans Otto Horch, Andreas Kilcher, Carolina Kita, Katja Garloff, Stephan Braese, Todd Presner, Scott Spector, Jay Geller, Kerry Wallach and others.

Each participant approaches the topic of the session with a different methodology and focus, bringing different perspectives and multiple aspects into the discussion. Carsten Schapkow, an historian and cultural historian, provides a solid historical context to the issue of Toller's intellectual development, arguing that by reframing Ernst Toller's career and writing "Jewishly," a more complete and compelling understanding of his work may be achieved. Michal Peles-Almagor utilizes a methodology which attempts to recalibrate the relationship between written and oral literary forms in the poetic production and performances of Mascha Kaleko. Peles-Almagor argues that Kaleko's voice --both literal and metaphorical- interrupted Jewish and Israeli perceptions of German-language poetry after the Holocaust. Her presentation attempts to illustrate how voice, gender, and migration intersect in Kaleko's work to construct and disrupt national and transnational narratives. In Mark H. Gelber's presentation, the term "Jewish turn" itself is scrutinized from a literary-historical viewpoint, taking the range of German-Jewish literary production and scholarship about it from the mid-19th century to the present into account. He argues that different types of "Jewish turns" need to be discerned, but in each case resistance to these "turns" has been registered in the extensive scholarship about German-language Jewish literature. Critical analysis is required in order to attempt to measure fairly the utility and promise, as well as limitations, inherent in the different "Jewish turns." His examples include: Heine, Kafka, Ausländer, Canetti, and Klüger. The presider of the session, Vivian Liska, brings a wealth of knowledge regarding German-language Jewish literature and philosophy to the discussion, as well as expertise in modern theoretical approaches.

The session includes one professor emeritus, one professor in mid-career, and one post-doctoral scholar. The presider is a full (senior) professor. One participant is based in the U.S. mid-west, one is based in Israel, and one is based presently on the U.S. East coast. The presenter is based in Europe.

The presider will introduce the topic (5 minutes). Each of the three main presenters will speak for 15 minutes (45 minutes total). A Q&A with discussion of 15-20 minutes with the audience follows. Then, the presider concludes with 5 minutes of reflection on the session.