This course focuses on the artistic ways in which the city, be it Jerusalem, Haifa or Tiberias, is represented in Israeli literature and film. The emotional and physical connection between the writer/drector and his/her place of dwelling is transformed in the literary work. The depiction of the city in prose and poetry relfects the inner world as well as ideological and political conflicts. The city may become a locus for national expression, of gender identification, or even of pure aesthetic enchantment. We will analyze how, through her portrayals of the Carmel Mountain and the Haifa bay, Yehudit Katzir expresses the complex bond with her mother; how Tel Aviv's streets enable Dahlia Ravikovitch and Meir Wieseltier to examine questions of loyalty; how the Jerusalems of A.B.  Yehoshua and Yehuda Amichai feflect their loves and hatreds. This class is conducted in Hebrew and the texts are read in the original.