HEBREW STUDIES 534

READINGS IN CONTEMPORARY HEBREW LITERATURE

Spring 2007

Instructor: Prof. Rachel F. Brenner

                1354 Van Hise

262-6102

E-mail: brenner@wisc.edu

Class:  MW 2:30 - 3:45

Office Hours:  MW 12 - 1 or by appointment

THEME: Literary Reflections of the Holocaust in Israeli Literature

The event of the Holocaust has played an important role in Israel's world view and the consciousness of this tragic event had a great impact on Israel's self-image as a Jewish nation-state. The evolution of the Israeli perception of the Holocaust is closely connected with the transformations of the Zionist ideology throughout the short but eventful history of the State. This course examines a particularly significant aspect of this phenomenon, as it emerges in the representations of the Holocaust in Israeli literature. We shall examine a selection of texts pertaining to this issue with a particular focus on the extent to which Israeli literary representations of the Holocaust reflect - rather than affect - the mainstream changing positions toward this historical event and, more specifically, toward the issue of Jewish victimization. Rather than appreciating the ways in which the memory of the Holocaust shaped the Israeli identity, this literature testifies to the ways in which Israel shaped and reshaped the Holocaust memory and to the manner in which the shifts in Israeli attitudes to the Holocaust concurred with the state's political, ideological, and ethical needs. Through the study of literary texts of various periods, we shall assess the shifting ideological distance that separates the Israeli from the Holocaust victim. We shall follow the transformation from an attitude of superiority and detachment to an attitude of affinity and even identification with the victim.

In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, the Zionist dogma of the productive and powerful Israeli conditioned the acceptance of victim upon his or her rebirth as a New Jew in the Land of Israel; however, the subsequent event of the Eichmann trial and the numerous wars brought forth a sense of compassionate feelings the victims, and further on, in an assumption of the self-image as a future victim of the ever present possibility of another Holocaust. Ironically, the notion of the Negation of the Diaspora which characterized the history of the pre-state Yishuv and of the first decade of the State underwent a transformation, whereby the Diaspora mentality of invaded the Israeli collective and to a large extent the consciousness of the individual. Increasingly, Israelis associated themselves with the history of Diaspora victimhood. Nonetheless, as we shall see in some of the literary works, the irony of Israeli identification with the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in the context of Israeli occupation did not escape some of the Israeli writers and poets; in these texts the consciousness of the Holocaust motivates the desire to end the situation which draws dismaying parallels between the Jewish victim and the oppressed Palestinian. It is my hope that the discussion of the Israeli literary representations of the ideological, political, and ethical aspects of the transformation of Holocaust memory will raise the students' consciousness of the ways in which history can be used (and abused) in response to present-day situations

Requirements

This is an intensive writing course. Written papers are assigned each session. There is an option to correct a grade below B. The corrected assignments should be handed in within a week. Take advantage of the opportunity for clarifying issues before class time, since usually I am in class well ahead of time to answer any questions that you may have arisen with regard to homework

In addition to regular homework assignments, two in-class assignments, four lecture reports, and the final essay will count toward the final grade. You are required to sign up for three presentation of the preceding class and for three presentations of current issues.

Please note:

Attendance and participation in class on regular basis are important components of the final grade.

Our class starts at 2:30 and students are expected to be on time. Please inform me of expected lateness or absence ahead of time.

If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to complete the material covered in this class and to do the written assignment.

Course grading (this grading scale is approximate and may be subject to change)

Homework assignments: 35%

Lecture reports: 15%

In-class assignments: 15%

Participation: 10% (Participation includes oral class summaries, current issues presentations, class discussions, and attendance)

Term essay: 25%

Texts: Multi-Dictionary: Bilingual Learner�s Dictionary or any other up-to-date Hebrew dictionary

Texts will be distributed in class.

Please write the check for photocopying expenses of $ 15 to the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies.

Lectures: You are expected to attend the following lectures and submit a report:

Prof. Ian Lustik, "The Real Meaning of Post-Zionism."

March 5^th 7. 30 (?) pm

Prof. Leonard J. Greenspoon, "Interpreting the Word, Hope, Hype and Habit in 50 Years of Biblical Studies."

March 12^th 7.30 pm. VandeBerg Auditorium, Pyle Center

Prof. Douglas Greenberg, "If You Don't Hate Me, Would I Still Be Jewish."

April 16^th 7.30 pm

Prof. Ron Tappy, "New Evidence for the History of Writing in the Tenth Century BCE."

May 2^nd 7.30 pm. VandeBerg Auditorium, Pyle Center.

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Latest revision date: 1/17/2007  (cad)

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