Hever, Hannan

Hebrew Literature and the 1948 War

Essays on Philology and Responsibility

The second book in our series Philological Encounters Monographs examines the conspicuous absence of the Palestinian Nakba in modern Hebrew literature through a rigorous reading of canonical Hebrew literary texts. Hannan Hever's book length study is pioneering in examining this theme through a rigorous reading of canonical Hebrew literary texts, while the author addresses the general failure of Hebrew literature to take responsibility for the Nakba. The book illustrates how the language of modern Hebrew poetry and fiction reflects symptoms of Israeli national violence, in which the literary language produces a picture of Palestine as an arena where the violent clash between the perpetrators and the victims takes place. In doing so, the author develops a new and critical paradigm for reflecting on the moral responsibility of literature and the ethics of reading.

Hebrew Literature and the 1948 War. Essays on Philology and Responsibility includes close readings of the works of Avot Yeshurun, S. Yizhar, Nathan Alterman, Yehuda Amichai, Yitzhak Laor, and Amos Oz, among others.


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