Anti-Semitism or antisemitism? Which one is correct? And does it matter anyway? #MondayBlogs #HistoricalFiction #JewishHistory

There are often two ways to spell a word: enquire or inquire, for example. Usually, the choice of which spelling to use is based on dialect. Enquire is more used in British English, while inquire is commonly used in American English. But can different spellings have different meanings? And cause negative feelings – even racism?

Searching for Gertrude is a historical fiction novel which takes place in Istanbul during the Second World War. The hero, Rudolf, who happens to work at the German Consulate, is searching for the love of his life who is a Jewish woman. Naturally, antisemitism plays a large role in the novel. When I started writing my manuscript, I didn’t pay much attention to how to spell antisemitism. I just followed Microsoft Word’s advice, which is to spell the word as anti-Semitism. During the hours and hours of research into the historical background of my novel, I stumbled upon several articles regarding how to properly spell the term. Apparently, it’s a controversial issue.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is a firm believer in using the term ‘antisemitism’ as opposed to ‘anti-Semitism’. (The entire memo from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance regarding the spelling of antisemitism can be read here.) Here is their reasoning:

The word ‘Semitic’ refers to a family of languages originating in the Middle East. Following this definition, the term anti-Semitic would seem to refer to prejudice against all people who speak Semitic languages or to those classified as ‘Semites’. However, since its inception, the term has only referred to prejudice against Jews. German journalist coined the phrase ‘antisemitism’ in 1879 to designate anti-Jewish campaigns. The term ‘Semite’ was used in the mid-nineteenth century to classify humans based on racialist pseudo-science.

The unhyphenated spelling is favored in order to dispel the idea that there is an entity ‘Semitism’ which ‘anti-Semitism’ opposes. When the term is not hyphenated (antisemitism), the meaning is clear: a generic term for modern Jew-hatred.

After I read the above, I couldn’t help but rush back to my manuscript and change every anti-Semitism into antisemitism. So, yeah, the spelling of words matters.

***

This blog is the first in a series of blogs I’ll be writing about the research I’ve done for my upcoming novel, Searching for Gertrude.