“Orient” – A Magic Word? On the German-Jewish History of a Term

The first lecture in the series The Imagined Orient invites you to join literary scholar Kathrin Wittler (Freie Universität Berlin) in exploring the term’s broad range of connotations through the lens of German-Jewish literary and cultural history and in revealing new perspectives in today’s heated debates. The focus will be on Jewish philosophers and writers who since the 18th century have been reflecting on the meanings contained in German-language terms used to refer to said areas, such as “Orient,” “Morgenland” and “Osten,” as well as similar Hebrew terms like “misrach” and “kedem.” The lecture will also examine how such terms reflect one’s own position in Europe.

The lecture series The Imagined Orient introduces ways of understanding German-Jewish and Israeli perspectives on the term “Orient” and explores its contradictory fantasies and realities within the spectrum of modern Jewish experiences. The series takes us from the 18th century to the present over the course of six events as it presents various biographies, films, photographs, texts and art pieces.