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9781557538307

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The depth of the author's knowledge about Jewish religious thought, German-language intellectual history, and interwar Central European culture is breathtaking, and he manages to weave these different strands of modern European history into one convincing and highly readable book. --Ilse Josepha Lazaroms

In this cogent and thorough study, Rares Piloiu presents Joseph Roth as a religious and historical theorist, comparing and contrasting his ideas with those of other Central European Jewish intellectuals of his time (Buber, Brod, Benjamin, Kafka, etc.). In this context, Piloiu systematically examines the lives of Roth's literary characters in light of his complex and evolving understanding of Messianic concepts of salvation, as influenced by Chasidism. Literary analysis is enhanced by discussions of historical conditions in Roth's lifetime and insights gleaned from secondary literature and Roth's correspondence and journalistic pieces. The result is a welcome new contribution to Roth studies.-- (07/09/2018) The depth of the author's knowledge about Jewish religious thought, German-language intellectual history, and interwar Central European culture is breathtaking, and he manages to weave these different strands of modern European history into one convincing and highly readable book. --Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, Central European Univeristy

The depth of the author's knowledge about Jewish religious thought, German-language intellectual history, and interwar Central European culture is breathtaking, and he manages to weave these different strands of modern European history into one convincing and highly readable book. --Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, Central European Univeristy

In this cogent and thorough study, Rares Piloiu presents Joseph Roth as a religious and historical theorist, comparing and contrasting his ideas with those of other Central European Jewish intellectuals of his time (Buber, Brod, Benjamin, Kafka, etc.). In this context, Piloiu systematically examines the lives of Roth's literary characters in light of his complex and evolving understanding of Messianic concepts of salvation, as influenced by Chasidism. Literary analysis is enhanced by discussions of historical conditions in Roth's lifetime and insights gleaned from secondary literature and Roth's correspondence and journalistic pieces. The result is a welcome new contribution to Roth studies. -- (07/09/2018) Rares Piloiu convincingly rereads Joseph Roth's literary texts in the light of Jewish thought, helping to solve the perennial problem of reconciling Roth's 'revolutionary' early work with his 'religious' middle and 'conservative' late periods. The concept of redemption that Piloiu applies does not solve the divergent intellectual positions and contradictions between and within Roth's narrators and characters; rather, it shows that it was these very contradictions that concerned Roth. Far from being indecisive or vague, Roth confronted his paradoxes consciously, creatively, and above all poetically. Scholars of European literature, Jewish studies, and European history will find this book invaluable. -- (07/25/2018) The depth of the author's knowledge about Jewish religious thought, German-language intellectual history, and interwar Central European culture is breathtaking, and he manages to weave these different strands of modern European history into one convincing and highly readable book. --Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, Central European Univeristy

Author Information

Rares Piloiu holds a BA in philology from the University of Bucharest, an MA in gender studies from the Central European University in Budapest, and a PhD in comparative literature from SUNY Buffalo. He has completed research at the Technical University Darmstadt and the University of Constance in Germany. Piloiu has taught at SUNY Buffalo and Otterbein University. Currently, he works as an information literacy coordinator at Otterbein University’s Courtright Memorial Library.

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