Images of Malice

The subject of visual anti-Judaism (hatred of Jews based on their religious difference) and of visual antisemitism (hateful content based primarily on delineation of nationality) is an integral part of local histories in the Bohemian lands, whether that be the history of religion or the history of national and racial intolerance. This intolerance may have originated from church doctrines, from feudal fiats and, later in history, from conditions related to nationality and the general need to find somebody to blame for practically any kind of problem in society. The publication presents the well-known high points of antisemitic resentment on the one hand, while on the other hand it reconsiders our view of historical periods not usually connected with the idea of anti-Jewish sentiment. The danger of anti-Jewish visuals is still an urgent problem today. This mapping of the visual signs of anti-Judaism and antisemitism is also an account of their broader meaning, as the processes of stereotyping, delegitimization, dehumanization and exclusion from society represent a more general problem. Whether these processes target religious, national or sexual minorities, they are based on a supposed conflict that is both constructed and imaginary.

Texts: Alice Aronová, Daniel Baránek, Jan Dienstbier, Michal Frankl, Jakub Hauser, Eva Janáčová, Milan Pech, Daniel Soukup, Blanka Soukupová, Zbyněk Tarant

Introduction (Eva Janáčová)

Anti-Judaism

  The 12th-15th Centuries: The Beginnings of Anti-Jewish Visuality (Jan Dienstbier and Daniel Soukup)

  The 15th-16th Centuries: Anti-Jewish Visuality and the Beginning of the Early Modern Era (Jan Dienstbier and Daniel Soukup)

  The 17th-18th Centuries: From the Counter-Reformation to the Threshold of the Enlightenment (Daniel Beránek)

Antisemitism

  More Than Illustrations: Antisemitic Imagery In Researching Modern Antisemitism (Michal Frankl)

  The Long 19th Century: The Birth of Modern Antisemitism (Jakub Hauser and Eva Janáčová)

  1914-1945: On the Road to Catastrophe (Milan Pech)

  1945-1989: Antisemitism Masked As Anti-Zionism (Blanka Soukupová)

  1989-2020: New Forms of Anti-Jewish Prejudice (Zbyněk Tarant)

In the World of Cinematography

  Reflections of Antisemitism in Czech Cinematography (Alice Aronová)

Sources And Literature

List of Contributors

Index of Names

Summary