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
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
Hayim Gouri: “Heritage” ( 1960)
Anthony D. Smith and John Hutchinson, selection from Nationalism: An Oxford Reader (1994)
Ilana Szobel: “Choreographing the Disabled Body: Performing Vulnerability and Political Change in the Work of Tamar Borer,” The Journal of Jewish Identities 12 (1), 2019, 55-74.
Recommended Reading
Yael Feldman: Glory and Agony: Isaac’s Sacrifice and National Narrative, California: Stanford University Press, 2010
Ari Folman (Director): Waltz with Bashir (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.
Dalia Ravikovitch: Selection from True Love (1987) and Mother with a Child (1992) [in Hebrew].
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)