Editing Das Judenthum in der Musik (section)

==Background==
{{further|Economic antisemitism}}
There is debate over the translation of the title, ''Das Judenthum in der Musik'', into English. The article's first translator, [[William Ashton Ellis]], gave it the title ''Judaism in Music''. "[[Judaism]]" in modern English tends to refer to the Abrahamic religion of the Jews. "Judenthum" however in 19th-century Germany carried a much broader meaning, including the [[Jewish culture|culture and social practices]] of the Jews. It also carried a pejorative sense associating Jews with money-making. Wagner also intended this latter dual meaning, given the context of the essay in which he uses "Judenthum" almost synonymously with "commercialism"; this usage is also reflected in his personal letters.<ref>Wagner, 1978</ref>

Wagner's essay primarily attacks Jewish culture, artistic taste, and alleged economic power and commercialism, rather than the Jewish race or religion. In the essay Wagner speaks of the need to emancipate both Jews and non-Jews from "Judenthum". For this reason, alternative translations of the title have been given, including ''Jewishness in Music''<ref>Millington 2001, pp. 162–3 and ''passim''</ref> and ''Jewry in Music''.<ref>Conway (2012), pp. 8–9</ref>

The essay was written during his exile in [[Zürich]] after participating in the [[May Uprising in Dresden]], part of the [[Revolutions of 1848]]. It follows ''[[Art and Revolution]]'' and ''[[The Artwork of the Future]]'' in a series of polemical essays intended to provoke controversy and discussion over the purpose and future direction of European art. Wagner had a radical mindset at the time, and was formulating what would become his magnum opus, the 16-hour long [[Musikdrama|music drama]] ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'', with which he intended to revitalize German art and society, which he perceived to be in decline.

In these previous essays, Wagner criticized the perceived shallowness of the then-popular French [[grand opera]], such as that of the celebrated Jewish composer [[Giacomo Meyerbeer]]. Wagner was emboldened to write again on the subject, this time from a fully [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] perspective, after learning of the great success of Meyerbeer's 1849 opera ''[[Le prophète]]'', and reading a series of essays written by his close associate [[Theodor Uhlig]], criticizing ''Le prophète'' as exemplifying inferior "Hebrew artistic taste".