Description
New Century Publications Space Memory and Jewish National Identity by M H Ilias
Due to the collage-like appearance of many political and sociological themes, the nationalist history of Jewish people has become an area of vigorous academic study. Academic works on Jewish nationalism in general and Zionism in particular are seen in abundance. However, the conventional characterization in terms of basic choices between modern and traditional, secular and religious, universal and particular fail to measure the extent of dynamism and creative interplay of various interesting processes involved in it. Moreover, there are not many studies adequately dealing with evolution of these nationalisms from the angle of space and memory that are inseparably bound up with it. This book analyzes the evolution of territorial orbit of the Jewish national identity through three seminal events in the Jewish history - namely diaspora, emigration to Palestine, and the creation of the State of Israel. The book examines how space and memory, as constituents of Jewish identity, are refashioned in each stage in nationalist history. It also looks at the community's relations with geography and memory and the bid to create space and narratives to serve the purpose of the present.