Gustav Meyrinks Raumkonzepte: Der Amsterdamer Jodenbuurt im Vergleich zum Prager Ghetto

The essay is focused on interpretations of space depiction in Gustav Meyrink’s (1868–1932) work. The interest of the author for this topic is as evident in his novels as it is in his short stories, and his most famous work, Der Golem (1915), has been thoroughly analyzed in the field of literary space, especially concerning his representation of the former Jewish district of Prague. This depiction is the subject of several studies about space deformations in phantastic literature and of transcultural research, especially in regards to the interactions between Czech, German and Jewish elements throughout his novel. Using these studies as main methodological sources, Meyrink’s space depiction in other novels and stories, which are not set in Prague but still show traces of a Prague “paradigm”, are analyzed – in particular Das Grüne Gesicht (1916), which also shows a Jewish district, albeit in Amsterdam, a city that Meyrink apparently never visited before writing his story. This article introduces the methodological premises of my research and puts forward a preliminary and very brief reflection on the Amsterdam Jewish district in Das Grüne Gesicht.