Reinterpreting the East: Orientalism in Hebrew literature, 1890--1930

The dissertation examines the idea of Orientalism and its influence on the Hebrew Revival at the turn of the 19th century, especially the role of Hebrew literature in shaping modern Jewish nationality and culture in relation to the East. The work analyzes the influence of the Orient as a modern, romantic European concept on the age-old Jewish longing to the East as represented by the Land of Israel in the works of three writers: David Frishman, Moshe Smilansky, and L. A. Arielli, each of whom represents a different stage or aspect in this relationship. It traces the incorporation of modern notions in their works, such as psychology, nationality, ethnicity and nativeness and the transformation, of biblical themes into a new matrix of Hebrew Orientalism.;The two opening chapters examine the Hebrew national revival as a product of the complex western attitude toward the East during the 18th and 19th centuries. The chapters race the rejuvenating influence of the ancient East on early nationalism and romanticism in Germany, England, France and Russia in order to understand how these ideas were later used by Hebrew writers to solve the existential paradox of Jews in Europe as both western and oriental.;The next three chapter consist of close literary analyses. The first chapter examines Frishman's cycle of short stories Bamidbar (In the Wilderness) that explore the East as an abstract concept culturally and philosophically. The second chapter looks at Smilansky's cycle of stories The Sons of Arabia as uniquely Jewish formulations of western oriental concerns, and tries to identify those elements in the stories which alter formed the basis for the literary construction of the New Jew. The Third chapter looks at Arielli's play Alla Karim! as a realistic work that brought Hebrew Orientalism to an end as a literary phenomenon. The conclusion of the thesis assesses the influence of Hebrew Orientalism on contemporary Hebrew literature.