We are thrilled to share that ATCJS affiliated faculty member Professor Louis Kaplan’s latest book, At Wit’s End: The Deadly Discourse on the Jewish Joke has been named one of Choice Magazine and Choice Reviews 2020 Outstanding Academic Titles in the category of Humanities-Performing Arts.
This prestigious honour is bestowed only upon the best in scholarly titles. The exclusive list contains only ten percent of some 6,000 works reviewed in Choice each year. It notes those books that deserve special recognition by academic librarians and the scholarly community that they serve.
At Wit’s End: The Deadly Discourse on the Jewish Joke explores the fascinating discourse on Jewish wit in the twentieth century, when the Jewish joke became a crucial rhetorical figure in the larger cultural and political debates among Germans and Jews against the ideologically charged backdrop of antisemitism, the Jewish question, and the Holocaust. Kaplan’s research is both a timely and important contribution to the ongoing conversation about the complex relationship between humour, antisemitism, and violence in the context of Jewish life in twentieth century Germany.
The ATCJS is proud to have supported the book’s publication and hosted its launch in October of 2020 in collaboration with Towson University. The event was attended by close to 200 people from 6 countries. The event featured Kaplan, alongside Professor Steven Aschheim (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Professor Jennifer Caplan (Towson University), and was moderated by ATCJS Director Professor Anna Shternshis. The book launch is available to watch via our YouTube channel via this link.
Congratulations to Professor Kaplan on this honour!