ABSTRACT | When people think about the Zionist “New Jew” in early twentieth century Europe, all-male spaces like sporting clubs and dueling fields come to mind. Yet the dance floor was an important proving ground (and site of anxiety) for Jewish men, who demonstrated their adherence to European and Zionist views of masculinity by dancing with women, an activity forbidden by traditional Judaism. This talk examines how Zionist balls could reenact heated debates about German identity and a Jewish state, focusing in particular on Clementine Krämer's 1918 serialized novel, Der Weg des jungen Hermann Kahn.
BIO | Dr. Sonia Gollance is Lecturer in Yiddish at University College London. Her book, It Could Lead to Dancing: Mixed-Sex Dancing and Jewish Modernity (Stanford University Press, 2021) was a National Jewish Book Awards (USA) finalist.