Workshop on the Jewish Reception of Josephus in the 18th and 19th Centuries in Western Europe

In this second workshop, on the Jewish reception of Josephus in Western and Central Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, participants were invited to turn to a range of cultural contexts, including the Yiddish Enlightenment, the Haskalah movement, and the Wissenschaft des Judentums, raising, among others, questions such as these:

  • How did Jewish intellectuals relate to the traditional acceptance of Yosippon, whose tales continued to be republished throughout the 19th century, and how did they take up contemporary scholarly approaches to Josephus?
  • How did Josephus help them promote a new understanding of history between religious notions of exile and redemption and secular concepts of revolution and progress?
  • How did the ascendancy of the new Classical Philology among humanistic disciplines shape the Wissenschaft movement’s approach to Josephus?
  • What was the impact of contemporary political and cultural challenges on the academic and popular reception of Josephus in Western and Central Europe?

The workshop was held at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies in Yarnton Manor on 17-18 June 2013.

Full Programme of Speakers (Download PDF)

Compiled Workshop Abstracts (Download PDF)