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CS92PROD
Identity and Alterity in Israeli Literature

WRCT 265
Spring 2014 not offered
Crosslisting: HEST 220
Certificates: Jewish and Israel Studies, Writing

Contemporary Israeli literature attests to a significant turn in Israeli identity. We will read and discuss contemporary texts that reflect different conceptions of various aspects of "traditional" Israeli identity. We will start with the modernist Israeli canon and proceed to contemporary writing. Our questions will focus on the gap between the public national ethos and private, nonnational identities. At the center of our attention will be some of the alternative spaces and discourses that have recently moved to the center of Israeli literature: the individual vs. society, Zionism vs. anti-establishment, Sabre (Israeli-born) vs. immigrants, the powerful vs. the vulnerable, center vs. periphery, monolithicity vs. pluralism, the major vs. the minor, etc. We will ask to what extent representations of the "other" in the Israeli texts parallel those present in American culture and society. Writing assignments include a series of review essays.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RELI
Course Format: SeminarGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: None

Last Updated on DEC-02-2024
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