| Part II | Convenor: Professor Yaron Peleg |
Course description 2023-24
Focusing on the Zionist revolution of the 20th century and the many cultural innovations it inspired, this course explores the new ideas and practices about language, literature, body, sexuality, visual culture, music, art, and architecture that shaped the modern Israel we know today.
While international politics and military skill played important roles in the creation of Israel, culture was just as important in giving Zionist politics meaning. Focusing on the new Jewish culture that developed in Palestine in the first fifty years of the 20th century, this seminar explores the new ideas and practices about language, literature, aesthetic sensibilities about body, sexuality, art, music and spatial design that shaped modern Israel as we know it today. In tracing the sources of Zionist culture and the premises that shaped it, the seminar will also reflect on some of the contradictions of Zionism as a colonial project, and as a project of partial social and economic justice.
Form and Conduct
This paper is assessed by a research essay of between 6,000 and 7,500 words, including footnotes and excluding bibliography. Each student will develop the topic of the essay in consultation with the instructor. A one-page topic and paper outline will be due during the first class session of Lent Term. One electronic copy (pdf) of the project shall be submitted to the Programmes Administrator in the Faculty Office so as to arrive not later than the fourth Friday of Full Easter Term.
Borrowed by MML Tripos students as their Paper 168.
This description is subject to change, for the latest information, students should consult the Undergraduate Handbook available on the Faculty Intranet.