Lachrymose History, Diaspora before Diaspora and the dangers of studying exclusively the Jews

Abstract

In this paper I analyze why the lachrymose perspective of Jewish history is not productive in the historical research. For that purpose, I problematize the notion of the diaspora as a contingent and forced situation, highlighting communities that, at least for late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, did not leave testimonies of a negative perception of their diasporic situation (or they did not even perceive their situation as diasporic). On the other hand, I remark the risks of studyingJewish groups as isolated entities, an approach that can lead to the notion that Jewish history is extraordinary, leaving aside that, in the same geographical and chronological coordinates, other groups also suffered hardships.