VOM PORTRÄT ZUR PROJEKTION: DIE KONSTRUKTION DER SCHÖNEN JÜDIN ZWISCHEN ORIENTALISMUS, MÄNNLICHER BLICKDOMINANZ UND ZIONISTISCHER BILDPOLITIK

Abstract

The image of the beautiful Jewess is a constructed 19th-century stereotype that appeared in literature and especially in the visual arts. Central to this depiction are mythological and biblical female figures such as Lilith, Salome, or Judith, who, within the contexts of Orientalism, Symbolism, and Impressionism, were exoticized and eroticized as Jewish femmes fatales. These portrayals stage them as foreign, threatening figures and thus reinforce notions of so-called othering. The development from individualized portraits of Jewish women to the clichéd type of the beautiful Jewess, as well as counter-images created by Jewish artists such as Maurycy Gottlieb, Ephraim Moses Lilien, and Max Liebermann, are examined. A key element is the Male Gaze (Laura Mulvey 1975), which solidified the stereotype of the exotic Oriental woman. Finally, the text considers the role this visual discourse played in Zionist representations of Jewish women and along with the visual transfer processes that occurred.