The collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 left all Austrians in a state of political; social; and economic turmoil; but Jews in particular found their lives shaken to the core. Although Jews' former comfort zone suddenly disappeared; the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy also created plenty of room for innovation and change in the realm of culture. Jews eagerly took up the challenge to fill this void; and they became heavily invested in culture as a way to shape their new; but also vexed; self-understandings. By isolating the years between the World Wars and examining formative events in both Vienna and the provinces; Becoming Austrians: Jews and Culture between the World Wars demonstrates that an intensified marking of people; places; and events as "Jewish" accompanied the crises occurring in the wake of Austria-Hungary's collapse; with profound effects on Austria's cultural legacy. In some cases; the consequences of this marking resulted in grave injustices. Philipp Halsmann; for example; was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his father years before he became a world-famous photographer. And the men who shot and killed writer Hugo Bettauer and philosopher Moritz Schlick received inadequate punishment for their murderous deeds. But engagements with the terms of Jewish difference also characterized the creation of culture; as shown in Hugo Bettauer's satirical novel The City without Jews and its film adaptation; other texts by Veza Canetti; David Vogel; A.M. Fuchs; Vicki Baum; and Mela Hartwig; and performances at the Salzburg Festival and the Yiddish theater in Vienna. By examining the lives; works; and deeds of a broad range of Austrians; Lisa Silverman reveals how the social codings of politics; gender; and nation received a powerful boost when articulated along the lines of Jewish difference.
#320977 in Books imusti 2015-08-12 2015-08-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.00 x .40 x 9.90l; .0 #File Name: 0190226927384 pagesOXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS ACADEM
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Aryan and Indus history for dummies..well almost..By Sudharshan gomadamThanks to Parpola for this eminently readable book on the aryans and indus script. I was bit skeptical when i bought this book as i thought the contents may go over the head of a lay person like me. However; the author has provided proper context and explained the prevalent view and his own view on various topics dealt in the book.His purported decipherment of the indus script sounds very plausible but it can only be an educated guess given the large number of assumptions that he makes.Overall a good book that leaves you yearning to know more about linguistics and ancient texts. The critical reviews seem to belong to a particular political hue and i would love to read a balanced review from an expert in this field.4 of 6 people found the following review helpful. An important book throwing new light on the provenance of the Aryans and the DravidiansBy GLThis is an important book; one that attempts to cut through the mists that surround the Indo-Aryans and their provenance and the early Dravidians. Parpola uses archeological and linguistic evidence to trace the migrations of the Indo-Aryans and other IE groups in the second and third millennia BCE; and he puts forward some fascinating and cogent ideas about the settling of northwest South Asia by waves of Indo-Aryan speakers. He argues persuasively that the Indus Valley people were Dravidians; though unfortunately there is no evidence that clinches this. I would recommend this book highly; especially for the way it traces various Indo-European groups on their way to India and for Parpola's ideas about the Indus-Valley civilization. I found his ideas about the changing composition of northwest South Asia in the second millennium BCE especially enlightening and compelling.3 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Remarkable synthesis of ancient Indian society and religion: the twin classical heritages - Dravidian (Tamil) Aryan (Sanskrit)By CustomerA great synthesis of Indian History using Archaeology; Vedic Philology and Linguistics. This work is a summary of 50+ years of the wide-ranging research that Prof. Asko Parpola has done and published in specialized articles and brings up to date his 1994 book. For unraveling of the ancient history of India; three significant discoveries are brought together: (1) Discovery of Indo-European languages and Sanskrit's place in it (2) Dravidian language family and its oldest texts; called Sangam literature of Tamil (3) Discovery of Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) in the 1920s. This book shows an earlier form of Dravidian language was spoken by the authors and elites of IVC; even though like modern India; IVC was multi-lingual. This important book is an important contribution on par with Robert Caldwell's book on Dravidian language family (1856 CE) in demonstrating Tamil and other Dravidian languages' role in the formation of "Village Hinduism". A major factor in Indian society is Caste and the system which shows the formation is in Sangam texts [a]. The intertwining nature of the two classical languages of India - Tamil and Sanskrit - in the fundamental elements of ancient Indian society and religion is brought out beautifully. For example; Dravidian "niira" (water) becomes "niila" to denote blue/black color. Similarly; Parpola suggests Meru; the cosmic mountain's name is from Dravidian "Melu-" ('upper; top; peak"). Also; Vaac; cognate with Latin "vox"; is Sanskrit. In Hinduism's concept; Vaac is a loan translation of Dravidian viL/veL; connected with vEL; a name of god Murukan; chieftains and land lords in Tamil. Genetics also proves the language shift in North India around 3000 years ago with small number of Indo-European speakers ingressing; just as it happened 400 years ago in Central and South Americas.Parpola's work discusses two major waves of Aryan language speakers entering via the Northwest of India from Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). This happened around 1800 BCE ("Atharvavedic") and then ~1400 BCE ("Rgvedic"). The first wave of "Atharvavedic" folks connected with VaruNa worship merged with the earlier Harappan crocodile god [b c]. In the Post-Harappan phase; when BMAC folks moved in and the language shift in North India was going on; the continuity of Harappan religion can be shown using the bronze Anthropomorphic Axe sculptures found from Haryana to Uttar Pradesh. Yamuna and Ganga doab valley with Yamuna river name connected with Yaamai 'turtle' in ancient Dravidian and IVC's gharial god is the symbol of the Ganga river. Post-Harappan "Anthropomorphic Axe" sculptures are made as huge monolithic sculptures in south India during the Early Iron Age "megalithic" period. This continuity of crocodile worship from Indus civilization to Iron Age Tamil country shown from archaeology and Sangam era coins gives clinching evidence that the IVC authors were Dravidian language speakers.[a] Early Evidence of Caste from Sangam literature;http://www.tamilnation.co/caste/hart.pdf[b] Gharial god and Tiger goddess in the Indus valley; Some aspects of Bronze Age Indian Religion; 2007https://archive.org/stream/IVCReligionByNagaGanesan2007/IVC_religion_by_Naga_Ganesan_2007#page/n0/mode/2up[c] A Dravidian Etymology for Makara - Crocodile; 2011https://archive.org/stream/MakaraADravidianEtymology2011/Makara_a_Dravidian_etymology_2011#page/n0/mode/2upIn March 2016; Proceedings of 16th World Sanskrit Conference will be published in Bangkok; Thailand. In it; the following paper of mine discusses the Tamil country's early religion derived from IVC crocodile deity. Indus Crocodile Religion as seen in the Iron Age Tamil NaduAbstract: This article is about some aspects of Indian religion in the Post-Harappan period providing a link to the Indus Valley Civilization seen in its Bronze Age seals. The meaning of the anthropomorphic axes found in the Indo-Gangetic doab plains of the Second Millennium BC as a ritual symbol of a Makara (crocodile) god will be presented. The characteristic fish sign pointing to the Dravidian language spoken by the elite Harappans has long been explored from the days of Fr. H. Heras; SJ. However; the importance of crocodiles in IVC culture is recently coming to light (A. Parpola; 2011). When this Crocodile cult disappears and gets forgotten in North India; it appears as large monolithic sculptures in the megalithic South. An interpretation of the Tamil Brahmi inscription at Tirupparankunram; near the ancient Pandyan capital Madurai; discovered by History department; Pondicherry University will be offered as mentioning the crocodile god and his spouse. The Asvamedha sacrifice on the banks of a Water Tank was performed for a crocodile as evidenced in Pandyan Peruvaluti and Chera coins. Graffiti symbols from Sanur and Sulur as linguistic sign for the crocodile deity; and the crocodile couple in Adichanallur burial urn (500 BCE) along with the battle-axe bearing great god in Sangam poetry will be used to illustrate the prevalence of the crocodile based religion until the Early Sangam period. The first stone sculpture made in south India at such places as Mottur; Udaiyarnatham; - monumental in size; over ten feet tall -; in the Iron Age will be linked to the earlier metallic Anthropomorphic Axes in the Yamuna-Gangetic doab; found in many Post-Harappan Ochre Colored Pottery sites of North India. The lecture will include etymology of Dravidian names such as ViTankar; Nakar; Ghaá¹›iaal; Makara; Karaa for the three species of Indian crocodiles. Finally; an interpretation of Gudimallam ViTankar (Lingam) as Varuna; rather than as Siva assumed by earlier scholars like A. K. Coomaraswamy; is offered. In the subsequent Pallava period; development of Tantric Saivism includes the tantric term ViTankar applied more broadly for the forms of Siva like naked Bhiksaaá¹ana and Somaskanda.N. Ganesan; PhDHouston; Texas; USAThe Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization
