Decadenza del linguaggio e crisi del sionismo nel giovane Scholem

  • Enrico Lucca

Abstract

The article focuses on the early work of Gershom Scholem (1897-1982) and provides a relation between his first thoughts on language and his discontent with Zionist politics in the late 1920s. Scholem shaped his theory of language together with his friend Walter Benjamin at the end of the 1910s. Starting from their common interest for mathematics and, especially in Scholem’s case, for the literary tradition of Jewish lamentations, both Scholem and Benjamin argued for a metaphysical and non-conventional essence of language. The article shows how Scholem’s concern for language, and in particular for the future of the Hebrew language, became later an important part of his critique of Zionist politics, which he reproached for losing connection with Jewish tradition and spending energies and resources in propagandistic activities instead of concentrating on more spiritual and moral issues.

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How to Cite
Lucca, E. (1) “Decadenza del linguaggio e crisi del sionismo nel giovane Scholem”, Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, 8(2). Available at: http://rifl.unical.it/index.php/rifl/article/view/229 (Accessed: 16April2024).