Queer Macaronic: Hebrew-German “Married Life” in David Vogel’s Prose

Abstract: This article examines David Vogel’s novel Married Life ( Haye nisuim ) through the lens of macaronic literature, introducing the concept of “queer macaronic” to analyze the complex interplay between Hebrew and German languages, cultural spheres, and gender dynamics in interwar Vienna. While macaronic literature traditionally refers to the playful blending of languages for satirical effect, Vogel transforms this tradition within the charged context of Jewish-German relations. His innovations create a literary space where linguistic hybridity becomes inseparable from questions of gender, power, and Jewish identity in modernity. Through close readings of the novel’s linguistic choices, including transliteration, grammar, and narrative perspective, this article demonstrates how Vogel’s narrative strategies transcend binary constructions of language (Hebrew/German), gender roles, and cultural belonging (Jewish/non-Jewish). The tragic relationship between Rudolf Gurdweill, a Jewish writer, and the Austrian Baroness Thea von Takow—culminating in the death of their child—represents more than failed assimilation; it reveals the impossibility of cultural synthesis in pre-Holocaust Vienna. By positioning Vogel’s work within both the European tradition of macaronic literature and Hebrew modernist writing, this study illuminates how his innovative use of Hebrew-German “married life” challenges conventional understandings of Jewish cultural belonging while expanding the possibilities of Jewish diasporic writing. This analysis offers new insights into both Jewish literary modernism and the broader study of multilingual literature’s role in negotiating cultural identity.