A Writer's Notebook, Day Seven-Hundred-And-Sixty-Eight

I am going to take a little break from discussing the larger concepts I have been focusing on this week.  In part, this is to give me an opportunity to consider these more carefully, as much of this has only become clear enough for me to discuss through the act of writing about it, and the specifics of the ideas are still rather tenuous.  So, I think it will be good for me to take a few days to think about this more carefully.

I do want to discuss a different matter, at least in brief.  It is something that has been on my mind in various ways for a long while, but which I find difficult to discuss at times, though explaining that difficult is often equally hard.  In part, it is to do with the sensitivity of these subjects, and with the fact that I am discussing ideas which are often not recognized, and pointing out these matters can cause upset or seem like it is just silly and easily dismissed.

I know I am not being clear, but the topic I am discussing is anti-Semitism as it exists in many texts of deep importance to our culture.  Works that have been seminal in creating aspects of our current culture.  To offer an example, Dracula is built on anti-Semitic stereotypes.  It is known that Bram Stoker was influenced by the legend of "The Wandering Jew," a story that's symbolism is clearly about a Jew being eternally punished for rejecting Christ.  The physical description of Dracula's appearance and dress has been compared to stage portrayals of the character, and Stoker even compares the Count's visage to that of a man described as "Semitic".  Even more, the very horror at the root of the novel is based in the real fears of British citizens in the 19th century over the emigration of Jews from Eastern Europe.  Consider that the White Chapel Murders and Jack The Ripper investigations coth have anti-Semitic elements, including a belief that the Ripper's skill with a knife was that of a Kosher butcher, and the claim that another killer was a Jewish butcher called Leather Apron.  It is clear that the threat of Dracula coming to London is based on real fears about the outsiders coming from those foreign lands.  The longstanding belief in the blood libel, the false claim that Jewish rituals involve drinking blood(often the blood of a Christian child to be used in Matzo, the slanderer will claim).  It is clear, when one considers it for a moment, knowing these facts.

So, what am I to think that one of the most recognized characters in literature, one who continually appears in media, both directly and as an influence, is a clear anti-Semitic stereotype?  This is issue is complicated, of course, by the passage of time and the reality that most people do not have any understanding of Stoker's intent in writing the book.  This is partially why I spoke of my difficulty in raising the issue, because I know that many people are deeply invested in their readings of this work and have a deep fascination with it, but, that does not change the fact that it is overtly anti-Semitic, building on age old stereotypes and ideas that have killed many who shared my heritage.  It is impossible for me to not see that when I consider this work, or many of those that are derived from it, and I am often worried about the dismissal of any attempt to create discussion around the existence of problematic content in work that is so established and revered.  I am aware, for example, of the efforts made to remove H. P. Lovecraft's name and likeness from the World Fantasy Awards in reconsideration of his bigotry, and I am doubtful that the Horror Writer's Association would have the same response if it were suggested they rename their awards so they do not applaud a writer whose beloved masterpiece is such an overt work of bigotry.

It might not be so much of an issue were it only about Stoker, but the truth is that I can point at elements in works that are far older and more significant, some of which are even more overt.  Consider that Jessica, Shylock's daughter, clearly wants to escape being Jewish as her primary desire in life.  Even if one offers a sympathetic reading of Shylock, Jessica's relationship to her own identity reveals an extremely unpleasant perspective.  That the name of Shakespeare's Jewish usurer has turned  into a term used to reference the act itself is a clear sign of anti-Semitism to anyone with an awareness of the origins of that association, as is the decision to center a play around such a character.

What matters, though, is that even raising these questions is often just dismissed, or that has been my experience much of the time.  I recall many times when, as a student, I was steered away from considering those elements as relevant to the work or to considering the author.  Even now, just writing this, I am concerned, which is ridiculous, but it is the way I feel.  It is awful enough to see this kind of hatred across our culture, in works I've been taught to love from authors who have been respected for generations, but to be afraid of even raising the question, that is a far deeper and worse matter.