English 395-F: Representations of Arabs and Jews in Israeli Literature & Film

 

 

Class Time: MWF, 1:25-2:15
Credit Hours: 3
Professor: Ranen Omer-Sherman
Office: 401 Ashe Building
Office Hours: Wednesdays: 1000-11:30 and by appointment
Email: rosherman@miami.edu
Office Tel: (305) 284-4072

 

 

Ever since its formation, Israeli Jewish society has been connected with Arab [society] as if it were its Siamese twin….The Arab perceived as the ‘ultimate Other’ by Israeli Jewish society is the one who defines this society.

—Nurith Gertz

 

 

 

Neither people can develop without the other there, harassing, taunting, fighting; no Arab today has an identity that can be unconscious of the Jew, that can rule out the Jew as a psychic factor in the Arab identity; conversely, I think, no Jew can ignore the Arab in general, nor can he immerse himself in his ancient tradition and lose the Palestinian Arab and what Zionism has done to him. The more intense the modern struggles for identity, the more attention is paid by the Arab or the Jew to his chosen opponent, or partner. Each is the other.                                           

  —Edward Said

Empathy...is a form of virtual, not vicarious experience...in which emotional response comes with respect for the other and the realization that the experience of the other is not one's own.

 

—Dominick LaCapra

 

Titles for Purchase:

Yehuda Amichai, The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai

Ehud Ben-Ezer, Sleepwalkers & Other Stories: the Arab in Hebrew Fiction

Savyon Liebrecht, Apples From the Desert

Amos Oz, Panther in the Basement

__.A Perfect Peace

Ghassan Kanafani, Palestine's Children: Returning to Haifa & Other Stories

Sayed Kashua, Let it Be Morning

David K. Shipler, Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land

A.B. Yehoshua, The Lover

 

The Following Selections Are Online (available in the library or on Blackboard)

 

Oz Almog, “The Stamp of His Country’s Landscape” (from The Sabra)

Almog Behar, “Ana Min al-Yahud - I am One of the Jews”

Ronit Chacham, excerpts from Breaking Ranks

Naim Kattan, “Jewish of Arab Origin and Culture”

Nadim Rouhana, “Zionism’s Encounter with the Palestinians: The Dynamics of Force, Fear, and Extremism” (from Israeli and Palestinian Narratives of Conflict: History’s Double Helix)

Yehouda Shenhav, “The Arab Jews & Zionist Historical Memory” (from The Arab Jews: A Postcolonial Reading of Nationalism, Religion, and Ethnicity)

 

Course Password for Reserves in Richter (case sensitive): r1074507

 

Course Description:

This class draws on literary narratives and film documentaries (as well as a few exemplars of fictional Israeli cinema) to discuss the relationship between the Zionist dream of Homeland and the marginal figure of the Arab, both as perceived external threat and as the “Other” within Israeli society. We will also consider works written by Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel. The core question we will address concerns the writer’s empathic response to the plight of Palestinians and the Arab minority within Israel itself. Though all views will be respected, this course focuses on the artist’s response to Israeli politics and culture and hence frequently brings a leftist perspective to bear on issues such as human rights, Israel’s historical relations with its Arab neighbors, as well as its current struggle to accommodate a nascent Palestinian nation. Other issues to be examined will include: the influence of the literary imagination on Israeli society; the role of dissent and protest in Israeli society; the Jewish state’s ambivalence regarding Jews of Arab origin. We will see how the narrative forms of literature and cinema often challenge the rigid lines formed in ideological narratives to distinguish the “West” from the “East” and expose the contradictions in the dominant narrative. The instructor will also create opportunities for students to participate in a lively dialogue about current news headlines and important cultural and political trends in Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East, as they develop. Assignments will include midterm and final essay exams as well as brief response papers.

 

Note: Website resources are available (see Blackboard) for those who want an introduction to the politics of the Middle East. Please note: During the duration of this course, I strongly encourage you to read Israel’s daily newspaper Ha'aretz [online in English] on a daily basis to get a reasoned spectrum of information and editorials:

 

http://www.haaretz.com/

 

Students with little Jewish background may want to read an introductory work such as Stephen Einstein’s Every Person’s Guide to Judaism, especially in the early weeks of the class (This is not a requirement).This is a useful site for anyone interested in quick and easy access to general information about Jewish religious beliefs and practices as well as culture, including contemporary literature:

 

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/index.htm?source=jlists

Note: Free tutoring for the crucial writing component of this course is available throughout the semester in the Writing Center, located at 5225 Ponce de Leon. Extra credit will be granted to students who take advantage of this resource.

All cell phones and beepers MUST BE TURNED OFF during class.

Grading Policy:

Attendance, position papers, and participation         20%

Regular attendance and active participation in class discussion are essential to this course. Please note that, because of the unique nature of our course meetings, no more than 3 unexcused absences will be allowed and more will be grounds for lowering your course grade. After five, the student fails the course. Any questions about this policy should be raised with me as early as possible.

Position papers          

Come to class on the due date with a short paper (1 ½-2 pages 12-font) addressing the question which usually invites you to take an interpretive position on that day’s reading.  The papers should not involve outside research, but they must have a clear thesis statement supported by a logical argument and backed up with evidence from the texts under analysis.  Position papers will be assigned from time to time as the basis of class discussion the day they are due; extensions will be granted only for late credit.

 

Midterm Essay Exam                                               40%

My Comments on Your papers: You must be willing to take both the positive and negative reactions gracefully. Positive reactions don’t make you a genius, and negative ones don’t brand you a fool. All they do is point out how and why an essay managed to communicate or failed to communicate what you intended. All reactions teach you something, so try to learn from them. More information on grading criteria appears below.

 

Research Paper or Final Essay Exam            40%

 

Essays and position papers must Follow all technical guidelines

posted to our blackboard site

 

Class discussion: This class will meet three times a week in both discussion and lecture format.  Most of that time will be devoted to discussing the assigned texts, occasionally in small groups.  In these discussions, you will be asked to raise questions, pose problems, interpret material, and debate and argue over the possible implications of what we’ve read.

 

Paper Submission Guidelines For ALL WRITTEN WORK:

·         All assignments prepared outside of class must be typed. 

·         Please use an 11 or 12pt, readable font such as Times, Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial, using a font that makes your writing difficult to read is counterproductive.

·         Title all essays, left-justify the text and use 1-inch margins. 

·         Number (paginate) the pages. 

·         Reference all quotations with parenthetical citations and remember to italicize book titles, short fiction in quotes, etc. Example: (Grossman, 114) or (Panther, 126) or (“Short Story” 22).

 

Essay Grades: You should also be aware that I have high expectations for all members of this class.  In my opinion, a “B” is a very respectable grade, and indicates work well done. I reserve “A”s for those who perform exceptionally well, in effort as well as achievement, in written as well as oral work. Following is a general outline of how I determine essay grades. Please note that this outline in no way serves as a contract. Essay grades should be viewed as a continuum between the qualities listed in A and the deficiencies listed in D.  The qualities in the A category are those which will pull an essay’s grade up; similarly, the deficiencies listed in the D category will pull the grade down.  Thus the existence of intermediary grades C and B, + and -.  Note that C is deemed the average grade. 

 

A The truly excellent essay: shows unusual polish and style; presents a fresh, highly original approach to its subject; integrates and interprets quotations seamlessly to support assertions; avoids clichés; presents controversial or unorthodox ideas successfully; has an absence of mechanical and grammatical flaws; displays an adept use of language; has a strong opening which entices the reader to continue and a conclusion which leaves the reader in command of the essay's implications; is well structured; and displays a comfortable, readable, mature writing style.  After reading, the reader feels that they have learned something and is ready to read the essay again.

B  An above average essay presents an interesting point of view and shows attention to the use of language or to structuring the essay and contains a minimum of technical errors.  Little is included to distract or disturb the reading process.  Reading is a pleasure.

C The average essay meets the assignment and has a clear purpose (thesis) that is supported by the body of the essay.   Some technical and/or structural flaws may be present. The paper is often too vague or general and does not use examples or quotations from the text adequately. The reader is not instructed and is not tempted to read the paper again.

D  The below average essay fails to make its point, or the purpose of the essay is unclear.  The essay may also contain a combination of the following deficiencies: failure to respond to constructive advice offered by instructor; highly clichéd writing; has incoherent structure; contains logical contradictions; does not meet minimum page length or other specific assignment requirements; preaches rather than persuades; does not provide adequate evidence (including quotation of text) to support its assertions.

F  Failure results from and egregious combination of the errors listed in D above.  Failure to turn assignment in. Disregard of assignment instructions.

 

Course Schedule:

This syllabus is only a close approximation of how the course will be structured.  I reserve the right to reschedule readings, films, and activities, but for the most part we will follow the order mapped out here. Reading assignments are provided the date before the session they will be discussed.

Calendar

 

Jan 17 Introduction; in-class assignment: Please candidly describe your hopes and desires, as well as apprehensions and fears, regarding this class; Miriam Libicki’s graphic-essay: “Towards a Hot Jew: the Israeli Soldier as Fetish Object”; handout on background to Arab-Israeli conflict; Chronology of Jewish relation to Israel & Palestine, population data, and Glossary of course terminology

Jan 19 View: “The Conflict” an episode from the documentary Tkuma; read David Shipler’s Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land (Pages 165-244); handout of “On the Use of the Term ‘Arab-Jew’”

Jan 22 discuss Shipler’s Arab and Jew

Jan 24 View The Land of Promise (the first Palestine sound film); Discuss Shipler’s Arab and Jew; read Ehud Ben-Ezer’s “Introduction” and S. Yizhar’s “The Prisoner” (from Sleepwalkers) and additional Yizhar readings: Obituaries and excerpt from Yizhar’s novel Preliminaries (photocopy)

Jan 26 Discuss “The Prisoner” read Tammuz’s “The Swimming Race” and Yehoshua’s “Facing the Forests” (from Sleepwalkers)

Jan 29 Discuss Tammuz’s “The Swimming Race” and Yehoshua’s “Facing the Forests” Read Amos Oz’s “Nomad and Viper” and Oz Almog’s “The Stamp of His Country’s Landscape” (ON COURSE RESERVE)

Jan 31 Discuss Oz’s “Nomad and Viper” and Almog’s “The Stamp of His Country’s Landscape” read Savyon Liebrecht’s short stories “A Room on the Roof” and “The Road to Cedar City” (from Apples From the Desert)

Feb 2 discuss “A Room on the Roof” and “The Road to Cedar City”; read A.B. Yehoshua, The Lover

Feb 5 discuss The Lover

Feb 7 The Lover

Feb 9 The Lover; read Yehuda Amichai, The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai (assigned poems will be announced in class)

Feb 12 Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai

Feb 14 Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai

Feb 16 Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai; view excerpt of Amichai reading

Feb 19 No class meeting: 7:00 pm screening of award-winning film Encounter Point at Cosford Cinema (1 ½-2 page written response due Feb 23rd in class)

Feb 21 Discuss Encounter Point; read Amos Oz’s Panther in the Basement

Feb 23 discuss Panther in the Basement

Feb 26 Panther in the Basement

Feb 28 Panther in the Basement

Mar 2 view film A Jew, But Not of the Synagogue (Interview with Amos Oz); read essays by David Grossman and Shulamith Hareven (handout)

Mar 5 discuss Grossman, Hareven essays

Mar 7 view film Israel Rocks; read Amos Oz, A Perfect Peace

Spring Break: March 10-18

Mar 19 discuss A Perfect Peace

Mar 21  A Perfect Peace

Mar 23 view excerpt from Haim Yavin’s Land of the Settlers; read Meron Rapoport’s “No Peaceful Solution” essay on historical debates in Israel (handout); Nadim Rouhana’s “Zionism’s Encounter with the Palestinians,” (RECOMMENDED--ON COURSE RESERVE) and Mordechai Bar-On’s response in “Conflicting Narratives or Narratives of a Conflict: Can the Zionist & Palestinian Narratives of the 1948 War Be Bridged?”—both essays from Israeli and Palestinian Narratives of Conflict: History’s Double Helix; selections from Ronit Chacham, Breaking Ranks: Staff Sergeant Ishay Rosen-Zvi’s interview; Private David Chacham-Hershon’s “A Letter from Jail” and his interview (HANDOUT)

Mar 26: No class scheduled; catch up on reading

Mar 28 In-class screening of film On the Objection Front

Mar 30 discuss On the Objection Front together with Breaking Ranks excerpts, also discuss Rapoport, Rouhana, Bar-On essays; read Ghassan Kanafani’s Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa and Other Stories

Apr 2 Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa and Other Stories

Apr 4 Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa and Other Stories

Apr 6 View film 500 Dunam on the Moon; read excerpts from Smadar Bakovic’s Tall Shadows: Interviews with Israeli Arabs

Apr 9 Discuss Tall Shadows interviews

Apr 11 view Dudu Topaz’s film Hitchhikers

Apr 13 discuss Hitchhikers; read Sayed Kashua, Let it Be Morning

Apr 16 discuss Let it Be Morning

Apr 18 discuss Let it Be Morning

Apr 20 View Forget Baghdad; read Yehouda Shenhav, “The Arab Jews & Zionist Historical Memory” (from The Arab Jews: A Postcolonial Reading of Nationalism, Religion, and Ethnicity— ON COURSE RESERVE)

Apr 23 Discuss Yehouda Shenhav, “The Arab Jews & Zionist Historical Memory”; view excerpt of From Language to Language; read Almog Behar’s short story “Ana Min al-Yahud - I am One of the Jews” (winner of the Haaretz newspaper’s Short Story contest) and Naim Kattan’s essay “Jewish of Arab Origin and Culture” (Blackboard document)

Apr 25 Evaluations; discuss “Ana Min al-Yahud - I am One of the Jews” and “Jewish of Arab Origin and Culture”

Apr 27: last class day