Even before it reaches the bookstores, a new novel by Martin Walser is sending shock waves through the German media because of accusations that the novel contains anti-Semitic stereotypes.
If the current crisis were merely literary, one could simply close the book on it.
In fact, the stir over the latest work by one of Germany’s most famous modern writers — and a controversy involving anti-Semitism at the political level fueled by comments made by a leader of the Free Democratic Party — highlights the unresolved nature of anti-Semitism in Germany, as well as concern over growing anti-Semitism in recent months.
Walser’s book, “Death of a Critic,” focuses on a writer suspected of killing a prominent critic and a narrator who investigates the case.
The storm began last week when the publisher of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper decided not to serialize Walser’s novel, and instead printed an open letter to the author.
It’s not the first time Walser has gotten into trouble for controversial remarks.
In 1998, when accepting Germany’s highest literary award, Walser created a storm when he said it was time to stop using the Holocaust to criticize Germany.
Several critics and observers have expressed shock and bewilderment at excerpts of the book published in various newspapers. Some say Walser cynically exploits anti-Semitism to sell books.
Alfred Schobert, a researcher at the Duisberg Institute for Linguistics and Social Research, said he was disturbed by references in the book to the “Jewish critic” being fond of little German girls, calling it a stereotype that appears in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
“I am disgusted by the whole procedure of presentation of a novel by a scandal. I think it will be a best seller because of all the criticism,” Schobert said. “And that breaks the taboo of making money through anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism sells. It sells like sex.”
The publisher, Suhrkamp Verlag, said the book will go on sale later this month.
Walser has threatened to sue the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for revealing the plot before publication.
“I never, never thought that now this book would be related to the Holocaust,” he said in a TV interview.
If the literary benefits of playing the anti-Semitism card are unclear, so are the political benefits. The vice president of the mainstream Free Democratic Party, Jurgen Mollemann, recently came under fire when he charged that Michel Friedman, a vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, is partly responsible for growing German anti-Semitism by labeling all criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic.
“What Mollemann does in politics, Walser does with literature,” Broder said. “With the same chutzpah, the same attitude of being the victim.”
Mollemann, who has expressed sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers, later apologized for his remarks.
But Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Council, said Mollemann’s apology fell far short of what is necessary.
“Your clarification, as you call it, contains neither the tone of an apology nor the words, ‘I am sorry,'” Spiegel wrote in an open letter.
Last Friday, the Free Democrats unanimously condemned Mollemann’s statements in a declaration that Mollemann himself signed.
On Monday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned Monday that Mollemann’s anti-Israel commentary “must be stopped because it damages Germany in an international context.”