OZ, YEHOSHUA, AND GROSSMAN: POST-ZIONIST NARRATIVES

Abstract

Ranen Omer-Sherman has called David Grossman, Amos Oz, and A. B. Yehoshua the three most internationally acclaimed Israeli writers. They are also three secular Israeli men who grew up with the State of Israel, and whose writings reflect the changes in prevailing social attitudes throughout its history. All three authors reveal through their recent work (specifically, novels published in first decade of the 21st century) some aspect of Post-Zionism in literary choices that mark a departure from or a reimagining of the ideologies the modern State was founded upon, and that these authors invariably grew up with. An examination of these Post-Zionist visions is important both in terms of understanding popular cultural trends of the State but also as statements about Israel's place in on a global stage that increasingly contends with questions about the international power structures of the 20th century. The purpose of my thesis will be to examine the ways that these authors challenge traditional representations of institutions of Zionism including the kibbutz and the IDF, and how they give unprecedented voice to the various populations that make up the State today, including Arabs and women. What results is a progressive rather than a destructive secularism, an emerging point of view that post-Zionism can be an inclusive phenomenon, but one that requires critique and redefinition of the varied components of a life in the Holy Land.