Jewish Studies 235 - PERSPECTIVES ON ISRAELI HISTOR

This course explores key issues in the political, social, and cultural history of Zionism and the State of Israel, as examined through a specific topic of current interest. Discussions over controversies in historiography may be amplified by exploring the ways in which public memory is consistently reshaped through film, museums, and/or literary texts that challenge existing historical narratives. No prerequisites. Surveys the development of the Israeli feature-length film, from the rise of Zionism until the present. By studying the major genres of Israeli cinema as they develop and shift over time, we gain insight into the filmic construction of Israeli society and the relationship between the politics and aesthetics of representation. Our cinematic journey explores the performance of nationality, gender, religion, ethnicity, and mass immigration on screen, the drama of Jewish/Arab and Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and the impact of the Holocaust, war, militarization, and trauma. In which ways does film both construct and interrogate the founding myths and narratives that constitute Israeli national identity and collective memory?(E)

Topic: The History of Israeli Cinema.