This course examines the genesis and evolution of the image of “the jews,” central to all European cultures, from the theology and psychology of Christian anti-Judaism to their reflection in arts and folklore, and to the survival of the “jewish” vocabulary of difference, in secular form, in post-Christian cultures. Special attention is given to “the jews” of the East European imagination. The final part of the course will explore the experience of Jewish cultural assimilation in European societies, which forced individuals of Jewish extraction to confront the Christian and post-Christian discourse of “jewish” difference. All readings are in English.