The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora: 11 (Contraversions: Critical Studies in Jewish Literature, Culture, and Society) - Hardcover

"Here for the first time is a work of scholarship which illuminates the life of Egypt's Jews, their struggle to be--or remai--Egyptian after hundreds, sometiems thousands of years in the region, and their trials in the diaspora as they redefine a complex identity. . . . Not only does "The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewrydispel many of the Orientalist myths about life in Egypt, with a particular focus on the post-war period, it builds, as its subtitle suggests, a model for valorization of the Levantine identity which Egyptian Jews typify."--"NASAWI News

In this provocative and wide-ranging history, Joel Beinin examines fundamental questions of ethnic identity by focusing on the Egyptian Jewish community since 1948. A complex and heterogeneous people, Egyptian Jews have become even more diverse as their diaspora continues to the present day. Central to Beinin's study is the question of how people handle multiple identities and loyalties that are dislocated and reformed by turbulent political and cultural processes. It is a question he grapples with himself, and his reflections on his experiences as an American Jew in Israel and Egypt offer a candid, personal perspective on the hazards of marginal identities.