Segev, Tom. The Seventh Million: The Israeli’s and the Holocaust. Trans. Haim Watzman. New York: Domino Press Ltd.: 1991.
This source gives an account of the Holocaust from the Israeli point of view, from 1939 to the present day. In the chapter “What does it do to me?,” author Tom Segev takes the reader on a tour of the Israeli National Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. Every construction in this museum bears a specific symbolism to the Holocaust—a symbolism that implies the Israeli perception of the Holocaust. In one passage, Segev recounts the history of the rift between the Holocaust survivors and the Sabras (residents of the kibbutzes that immigrated to Israel in the early 20th century). My primary source alludes to this exact relationship and I plan to expound on it in my paper.
Dalia Ofer. “The Holocaust, the establishment of Israel, and the shaping of Israeli
society.” Shared Histories. Ed. Pogrund, Benjamin, Walid Salem, and Paul
Scham. California: Left Coast Press, 2005. 135-147.
One aspect of this essay by Dalia Ofer examines the absorption of Holocaust survivors into Israeli military culture. Ofer discusses how Holocaust survivors arrived in Israel and quickly joined the ranks of the underfed, under-trained, and under-armed Israel army. Based on empirical evidence, she proves that survivors suffered the same hardships in the war for Independence as their Sabra brethren. In Shoes by Etgar Keret, the belligerent old man expresses his desires to commit acts of violence against the Nazis. In my analysis, I will consider how Holocaust such as the old man have embraced (or rejected) military service in Israel.
Jose Brunner. “Contentious Origins: Psychoanalytic Comments on the Debate over
Israel’s Creation.” Psychoanalysis, Identity, and Ideology: Critical Essays on the
Israel/Palestinian Case. Ed. Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin, and John Bunzl.
Massechusetts: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002. 107-129.
Brunner’s essay primarily discusses Israeli-Palestinian relations, but it also sheds light on the creation of Israel as a result of the Holocaust. He speaks of the “divide” in Israeli academia over the “uniqueness of the Zionist project.” Specifically, this divide refers to the ambivalence in an Israeli society that owes its existence to the Holocaust. Brunner raises the question, was the creation of Israel heroic or selfish? Did it benevolently provide a home for displaced survivors, or did it engender the loss of homeland for thousands of displaced Palestinians. This is the core of all arguments over the legitimacy of Zionism and Israel’s statehood. In Shoes, the boy’s vacillations in deciding to wear his shoes allegorize this ambiguity of the Zionist question.
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2 comments:
Alex, these sources all seem to offer useful contextualization for the short story you've selected.
Consider looking for secondary sources that discuss writing the Holocaust . There's a large literary tradition that exists prior to these short stories and that contextualize them as well.
It seems like you have very solid secondary sources that indirectly offer theoretical perspectives that will help you make an argument for the short story. Have you also found good sources that are direct criticisms of either the author or his short stories? I think you mentioned in class that there weren't many text solely analyzing his work...or it may have been someone else.
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