This SIIS faculty syllabus provides an illustrative selection of modern Hebrew literature through which one can better understand Israeli history, society, and culture. The session utilizes a variety of literature, poetry, music, and film as entry points into discussions of major themes in Hebrew literature.
Required Reading
Hayim Gouri: “Heritage” ( 1960)
Yehuda Amichai: “Rain on a Battlefield” (1955); “I Want To Die In My Own Bed” (1958). [Poems in Hebrew]
Yehoram Gaon: “Ballad for the Medic” Text, Video
Anthony D. Smith and John Hutchinson, selection from Nationalism: An Oxford Reader (1994)
Required Viewing
Movie: Waltz with Bashir (Director: Ari Folman, 2008)
In Hebrew w/ English subtitles. Available on Netflix and as a digital rental on Amazon. Check also with your local and/or university library.
Recommended Reading
Kronfeld, Chana, Nili R. Gold Scharf, and Barbara Mann, “Hovering at a Low Altitude,” Reading Hebrew Literature: Critical Discussions of Six Modern Texts, Ed. Alan Mintz (Hanover: Brandeis UP, 2003)
Yael Zerubavel, “Patriotic Sacrifice and the Burden of Memory in Israeli Secular National Hebrew Culture,” in Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa, ed. Ussama Makdisi and Paul A. Silverstein (2005)
Dalia Ravikovitch: Selection from True Love (1987) and Mother with a Child (1992). Hovering at Low Altitudes [in Hebrew]. (Collection of Political Poems).