Diaspora Nationalism and Jewish Identity in Habsburg Galicia

29.11.2013
2 хв читання

book-diaspDiaspora Nationalism and Jewish Identity in Habsburg Galicia

by Joshua Shanes

Cambridge University Press, 2012, 336 p.

The book of Joshua Shanes deals with the issue of developing nationalism of Jewish population in Habsburg Galicia from the end of XVIII century till the beginning of XX century. The research claims that Jewish nationalism was a complex phenomenon consisted from two main streams: diaspora nationalism and Zionism. Diaspora nationalism was developing in the frame of the Habsburg Empire. People understood their situation of living in diaspora and did their best to improve their civic rights. Zionism was developing as the state building project of colonization the Palestine territories.

Shanes showed two alternative ways of developing the national identity placed in the same time in the same place and in the same ethnic group. The way how diaspora nationalism was developed in many cases was similar to nationalism of other small nations of Gabsburgs. It is possible to find elements of all stages of nationalism construction described by Miroslav Hroch. Developing of Zionist project was the unique phenomenon of creation the independent state based on national mythology and ancient history.

Shanes successfully showed the dynamic of developing both directions of Jewish nationalism in historical perspective of uprising and upset of the Habsburg Empire. He also demonstrated the integral connections between processes. Both strategies were caused in an inequality and discrimination of Jewish minority in the Habsburg state.

Galicia was one of the most interesting regions for analysis from several reasons. In Galicia, the Jewish community was numerous and lived there though centuries, which had good and bad sides. It was possible to observe the power dynamic with the Austrian authorities; Polish authorities and local multiethnic diversity. The processes of Germanization, Polonization played an important role in the developing the research plot of Shanes’ book as well as modernization cultural and economic developing of Jewish community.

In this book the best was done the analysis how diaspora nationalism and Zionist project were developed. Actually the research was about it. What is missing here is the historical and cultural context in a broad sense. I would like to read little bit when Jews settled in Galicia, how was their situation to compare with other countries and regions. These moments deserved to be more explained if the author wanted to target a broad audience not only specialists in Habsburgs history or Jewish nationalism and Zionism.

The anthropological survey was also missing in this book. Shanes told about the most significant figures of Jews political and religious movement but he did not talk too much about ordinary people, their everyday life. How much the ordinary people concerned about those political issues. Writing about press he slightly touched this moment, but did not develop too much.

The author should be more careful about toponymy and proper names. I do not know why he used Tarnopol, Kolomea, Curier Lvovski, instead of Lwowski the list might be continued. Especially it is strange that Shanes included the map prepared by Paul Magosci with Ukrainian toponymy. He could use the denomination according to the historical period or to the Jewish tradition but it might be done more systematic and explained better. The appellation Orthodox might be used more careful as well, because it could be missed with Orthodox Christianity which was in Galicia too.

Tetyana Dzyadevych,

Department of Slavic and Baltic Languages and Literatures,

UIC (University of Illinois in Chicago)

 

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