The Paranoid Apocalypse

by Landes, Richard; Katz, Steven T.

• ISBN13: 9780814748923
• ISBN10: 0814748929
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-12-12
• Publisher: New York Univ Pr

Summary

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, first published in Russia around 1905, claimed to be the captured secret protocols from the first Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897 describing a plan by the Jewish people to achieve global domination. While the document has been proven to be fake, much of it plagiarized from satirical anti-Semitic texts, it had a major impact throughout Europe during the first half of the 20th century, particularly in Germany. After World War II, the text was further denounced. Anyone who referred to it as a genuine document was seen as an ignorant hate-monger. Yet there is abundant evidence that The Protocols is resurfacing in many places.The Paranoid Apocalypsere-examines the text's popularity, investigating why it has persisted, as well as larger questions about the success of conspiracy theories even in the face of claims that they are blatantly counterfactual and irrational. It considers the medieval pre-history of The Protocols, the conditions of its success in the era of early twentieth-century secular modernity, and its post-Holocaust avatars, from the Muslim world to Walmart and Left-wing anti-American radicalism. Contributors argue that the key to The Protocols' longevity is an apocalyptic paranoia that lays the groundwork not only for the myth's popularity, but for its implementation as a vehicle for genocide and other brutal acts.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Protocols at the Dawn of the 21st Century	p. 1
Conceptual Prelude: On Paranoid Politics and Apocalyptic Violence
The Melian Dialogue, the Protocols, and the Paranoid Imperative	p. 23
The Apocalyptic Other: On Paranoia and Violence	p. 34
Medieval Prologue: Cosmic Christian Anxiety and Global Modern Paranoia
The Devil's Hoofs: The Medieval Roots of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion	p. 49
Thomas of Monmouth and the Protocols of the Sages of Narbonne	p. 56
The Early Years: The Apocalyptic Matrix of Genesis and Launch
"The Antichrist as an Imminent Political Possibility": Sergei Nilus and the Apocalyptical Reading of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion	p. 79
Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Thoughts on the French Connection	p. 92
"Jewish World Conspiracy" and the Question of Secular Religions: An Interpretative Perspective	p. 100
The Turning Point: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the Eschatological War between Aryans and Jews	p. 112
Post-Holocaust Protocols: Non-Western Variations
The Protocols in Japan	p. 135
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: An Authentic Document in Palestinian Authority Ideology	p. 152
Protocols at the Turn of the Millennium: The Return of the Repressed
Anti-Semitism from Outer Space: The Protocols in the UFO Subculture	p. 163
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on the Contemporary American Scene: Historical Artifact or Current Threat?	p. 172
Protocols to the Left, Protocols to the Right: Conspiracism in American Political Discourse at the Turn of the Second Millennium	p. 186
Quo Vadis? How to Respond to the Return of the Protocols
Conspiracy Then and Now: History, Politics, and the Anti-Semitic Imagination	p. 219
Jewish Self-Criticism, Progressive Moral Schadenfreude, and The Suicide of Reason: Reflections on the Protocols in the "Postmodern" Era	p. 229
About the Contributors	p. 251
Index	p. 255
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