191. Isaksen: Literature and War: Conversations with Israeli and Palestinian Writers
- Author:
- Lital Levy
- Publication Date:
- 12-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- In the vast sea of literature on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rarely do we find literature on literature itself. Major Israeli writers such as David Grossman and AmosOz are well known in the West. But aside from the late poet Mahmud Darwish, even many Middle East scholars would be hard-pressed to name a Palestinian writer. What is the role of literature in the conflict? Could literature serve as a "cultural backdoor" to a deeper understanding of the "other" and the conflict? Could it even serve as an avenue for reconciliation? Runo Isaksen's Literature and War: Conversations with Israeli and Palestinian Writers attempts to answer these questions by means of interviews with prominent Israeli and Palestinian authors. This is a book of many, perhaps too many, stated goals, which nonetheless provides an important perspective on both the possibilities and limits of literature as a tool of conflict resolution.
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Israel, and Palestine