 First edition cover | |
| Author | Theodor Herzl |
|---|---|
| Original title | Altneuland |
| Translator | Lotta Levensohn (1997 edition) |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Utopian novel |
| Publisher | Seemann Nachf |
Publication date | 1902 |
| Publication place | Austria-Hungary |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 343 |
| OCLC | 38767535 |
The Old New Land (German:Altneuland;Yiddish:אַלטנײַלאַנד,romanized: Altnayland) is autopian novel published in German byTheodor Herzl, the founder ofpolitical Zionism, in 1902. It was published six years after Herzl's political pamphlet,Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) and expanded on Herzl's vision for a Jewish return to theLand of Israel,which helped[citation needed]Altneuland become one of Zionism's establishing texts. It was translated intoYiddish byIsrael Isidor Elyashev (Altnayland.Warsaw, 1902),[1] and intoHebrew byNahum Sokolow asתֵּל־אָבִיב,Tel Aviv (Warsaw, 1902).[2] The namewas adopted for the newly founded city ofTel Aviv.
The novel tells the story of Friedrich Löwenberg, a youngJewish Viennese intellectual, who, tired with European decadence, joins an AmericanizedPrussian aristocrat named Kingscourt as they retire to a remotePacific island (it is specifically mentioned as being part of theCook Islands, nearRarotonga) in 1902. Stopping inJaffa on their way to the Pacific, they findPalestine a backward, destitute and sparsely populated land, as it appeared to Herzl on his visit in 1898. Löwenberg and Kingscourt spend the following twenty years on the island, cut off from civilization. As they stop over in Palestine on their way back to Europe in 1923, they are astonished to discover a land drastically transformed.
A Jewish organization officially named the "New Society" has since risen as European Jews have rediscovered and re-inhabited theirAltneuland, reclaiming their own destiny in theLand of Israel. The country, whose leaders include some old acquaintances from Vienna, is now prosperous and well-populated, boasts a thrivingcooperative industry based on state-of-the-art technology, and is home to a free, just, and cosmopolitan modern society. InHaifa, Löwenberg and Reschid Bey meet a group of Jewish leaders who take them on a tour of the country. They visit various cities and settlements, including akibbutz and amoshav, where they witness the social and economic transformation of the Jewish community. They also learn about the development of new technologies and the establishment of a Jewish university that leads scientific research. Arabs have full equal rights with Jews, with an Arab engineer among the New Society's leaders, and most merchants in the country are Armenians, Greeks, and members of other ethnic groups.
Eventually Löwenberg and Kingscourt decide to stay in the new state.
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Herzl's novel depicts his vision for the realization of Jewish national emancipation, as put forward in his bookDer Judenstaat (The Jewish State) published in 1896. Both ideological and utopian, it presents a model society which was to adopt aliberal andegalitarian social model, resembling a modern welfare society.[3] Herzl called his model "Mutualism" and it is based on a mixed economy, with public ownership of the land and natural resources, agricultural cooperatives,welfare, while at the same time encouragingprivateentrepreneurship. Herzl rejected the Europeanclass system, yet remained loyal to Europe's cultural heritage.
While the language question is not discussed in detail, it appears that the society is multilingual, withYiddish being the mainvernacular language andGerman the main written language.
WhileJerusalem is the capital, with the seat of parliament ("Congress") and the Jewish Academy, the country's industrial center is the modern city ofHaifa. Herzl saw the potential ofHaifa Bay for constructing a modern deep-water port. As envisioned by Herzl, "All the way fromAcco toMount Carmel stretched what seemed to be one great park".
Herzl's depiction of Jerusalem includes a rebuiltJerusalem Temple. However, in his view, the Temple did not need to be built on the precise site where the old Temple stood and which is now taken up by the MuslimAl-Aqsa Mosque andDome of the Rock - very sensitive holy sites. By locating the Temple at a different Jerusalem location, the Jewish state envisioned by Herzl avoids the extreme tension over this issue experienced in the actual Israel. The Temple depicted in Alteneuland is essentially just an especially big and ornatesynagogue, holding the same kind of services as any other synagogue.
The country envisioned in the book is not involved in any wars and does not maintain any armed forces. As explained in the book, the founders took care to get the consent of all European powers for their enterprise and not get entangled in any inter-power rivalry. As for the country's Arab inhabitants, the book's single Arab character, Rashid Bey, explains that the Arabs saw no reason to oppose the influx of Jews, who "developed the country and raised everybody's standard of living".
The novel was significant in the establishment of Zionist ideas as it was published in the time period of theFirst Aliyah.Altneuland also reflects Herzl's belief in the importance of technology and progress. The Jewish state in the novel is a highly advanced society, where scientific and technological innovation is celebrated and valued. This reflects Herzl's belief that the Jewish people needed to embrace modernity in order to succeed in the modern world.[4][page needed][5] Additionally,Altneuland also highlights Herzl's commitment to social equality and the idea of a multicultural Jewish society. The novel portrays a Jewish state where Jews and Arabs live together in harmony, reflecting Herzl's belief in the importance of coexistence and mutual respect between different communities.[6]
Altneuland, at the time of the rise of Zionism as a political movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, saw the emergence of a new form of Jewish nationalism that sought to establish a Jewish state in Palestine began to prevail. The Zionist movement was fueled by a range of factors: the aggressive rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, the unifying sense of Jewish identity and solidarity that followed, and the desire for a homeland where Jews could live free from persecution and not be a minority in their society inspired a new wave of Zionism led by individuals like Theodore Hertzl.[7]
The novel directly reflected Herzl's political philosophy represented through a new form, literature. The novel presented a modern, democratic, and multicultural Jewish state, which was a departure from the traditional religious and cultural identity of the Jewish people.[8] Herzl emphasized the importance of Jewish self-determination and the need for a Jewish state to ensure the safety of the Jewish people. Herzl believed that the Jewish community was a nation and needed a state of its own to survive in the modern world. This idea became a pillar of Zionism and was later instrumental in the need for the establishment of the State of Israel.[9]
Herzl picked the name of the novel being inspired by his repeated visits to theOld-New Synagogue inPrague.
In the afterword Herzl writes that he worked on the book for three years.
The book was immediately translated into Hebrew byNahum Sokolow, who gave it the poetic title "Tel Aviv", usingtel ('ancient mound') for 'old' andaviv ('spring') for 'new'.[10] The name as such appears in theBook of Ezekiel, where it is used for a place in Babylonia to which theIsraelites had beenexiled. The Hebrew title of the book was chosen by Jewish residents as the name for the newly purchased twelve acres of sand dunes, north ofJaffa, established in 1909 under a company name "Ahuzat Bayit (lit. "homestead") society", and with the financial assistance of theJewish National Fund. The town was originally named Ahuzat Bayit. On 21 May 1910, the name Tel Aviv was adopted. Eventually, Tel Aviv would become known as "the first [modern] Hebrew city" and a central economic and cultural hub of Israel.
Additionally, the first Hebrew edition of the Herzl biography that was written after 1948, and published byAlex Bein in 1960, reflected historical viewpoint changes based on the summary ofThe Old New Land. In the summary, the outline ofAltneuland was significantly shorter than that of the previously published 1938 copy.[11] The shortened summary did not include details of the interaction between Herzl'sAltneuland Palestine and the ruling Ottoman empire. However, it is important to note that many other references to Herzl'sAltneuland Palestine following the establishment of a Jewish state do not include this information as well.
Herzl's friendFelix Salten visited Palestine in 1924. The next year, Salten gave his travel book the titleNeue Menschen auf alter Erde ("New People on Old Soil"),[12] and both the title of this book and its contents allude to Herzl'sAltneuland.[13]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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