Courses > 2007 Spring

Electives

CINE 329 - Israeli Film and Literature: Love and War

NELC 159 | COML 282 | JWST 154
401 | TR 1:30-3pm

While the American tradition sanctifies the "pursuit of happiness," Israeli consciousness does not. The "tug of war" between the individual's right to seek happiness on the one hand, and the commitment to collective, national causes on the other, is an overarching theme in Israeli literary and cinematic works. This struggle, as it is reflected in the arts, crosses lines of gender and genre, age and ethnic background. So deeply ingrained is the superiority of national concerns that a leading Israeli critic accused the renowned author A.B. Yehoshua of "desertion" when he wrote a mere love story. We will study works of fiction, poetry and film created by Israeli men and women from 1948-2006. Some of the works deal with the relationship between love and war, while others focus on one of the two. Readings include Yehoshua, Oz, Amichai, Ravikovitch & Katzir. Films include works by Barbash, Agmon, Ben-Dor & Dotan. There will be six film screenings; the films will also be placed on reserve at the library for those students unable to attend the screenings. The content of this course changes from year to year, and therefore, students may take it for credit more than once.