Roots in the Air: Construction of Identity in Anglophone Israeli Literature

Located on the seam of Diaspora and Israeli Literature, Anglophone Israeli Literature comprises a loose community of 100-500 authors and has co-existed with the Hebrew writing tradition in Israel since the 1970s. Consisting mainly of immigrants from Anglophone countries, Anglophone Israeli Literature is characterized by a search for personal and poetic identity in a highly transcultural environment, challenging settled identities and opting instead for flexibility, flux and inclusion. The present volume considers Anglophone Israeli Literature as a phenomenon in its critical, social and historical aspects on the one hand and explores the specific mechanisms of constructing and representing poetic identity on the other hand. Focusing on the works by and interviews with some of the core representatives of Anglophone Israeli Literature – Shirley Kaufman, Rachel Tzvia Back, Karen Alkalay-Gut, Lami, Richard Sherwin, Jerome Mandel, Riva Rubin and Rochelle Mass – the book analyzes three pivotal elements of identity: language, geography and place, and political and emotional self-positioning towards the Other.