The project analyses the networks of German and Austrian Jewish exiles in Mexico, with a particular focus on the mediating work of Paul Westheim and Leo Katz. It examines their transnational connections, aesthetic transformations, and cultural reflections in exile.
Project Overview
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Tatjana Jouravleva
The Fellow Project examines the social networks of German and Austrian Jewish exiles in Mexico, with a particular focus on the cultural mediation activities of Paul Westheim and Leo Katz. At different stages—before, during, and after their flight—these figures acted as intermediaries between the artistic and political avant-garde movements of European metropolises, including Berlin, Paris, and Vienna, and Mexican society. Their work as writers, journalists, and critics was closely intertwined with Mexico’s Jewish community, transnational exile networks, and the country’s political left. The study focuses on reconstructing the ego-centred networks of these actors in their places of origin, at transit locations, and in Mexican exile.
Social network analysis provides the project’s methodological foundation, particularly Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the social field and social capital, supplemented by concepts from Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory. The latter makes it possible to include non-human actors—such as institutions, journals, and geographical locations—in the analysis of social interactions.
The project aims to identify interactions between exiles and Mexican institutions, to classify forms of cultural mediation systematically, and to make visible the transnational relationships articulated in the exile press. A further methodological approach involves the cartographic visualisation of social connections and spatial configurations. These visualisations serve to locate specific activities and movements in exile and to analyse the relational dimension of networks as well as the circulation of cultural concepts and practices.
An additional focus lies on aesthetic transformations understood as consequences of biographical ruptures in the context of exile and diaspora. The authors’ reflections on their experience of exile are situated within the broader context of Jewish culture and modernity. These reflections shape their cultural self-positioning and sense of belonging.
The project also examines the extent to which these processes of reflection correspond with discourses in other centres of exile, such as the United States, and whether they entered Mexican intellectual debates on nationalism and the postcolonial engagement with Indigenous culture. To pursue these research objectives, social network analysis, mapping and visualisation techniques (QGIS, Gephi), and methods of discourse analysis are combined.
