Jewish and Non-Jewish Spaces in Urban Context

The unifying thread of this interdisciplinary volume is the fact that Jewish spaces are almost always generated in relation to non-Jewish spaces; they determine and influence each other. Using various urban contexts and discourses as data, this general phenomenon is scrutinized and put to the test in a varied collection of essays. The book's contributions deal with the question of how Jewish and non-Jewish spaces are imagined, constructed, negotiated, and intertwined. Together, the examples and case studies create a mosaic of possibilities for the construction of Jewish and non-Jewish spaces in different settings. The list of topics ranges from synagogues to ghettos, from urban neighborhoods to cafes and festivals, from art to literature. Although the majority of the contributions are focused on Central and Eastern Europe, a more general tendency becomes apparent in all articles: the negotiation of urban spaces seems to be a complex and ambivalent process in which a large number of participants are involved. In this regard, the book contributes to transdisciplinary urban studies and critical research on spatial relations. (Series: Jewish Cultural History in the Modern Era / Judische Kulturgeschichte in der Moderne - Vol. 4)