Jewish Migration in Literature and the Visual Arts

Almog, Yael

Abstract

This chapter offers a cultural history of Jewish migration and Diaspora since the beginning of the twentieth century. The examination focuses on literary and artistic alternate histories that pertain to the demography of the global Jewish population. The chapter investigates the role of literature and art in ascribing dynamic political meanings to Jewish Diaspora in accordance with historical affairs. The chapter opens with an overview of theories by Jewish thinkers that problematize the binary opposition of Diaspora to homeland and challenge the view of territorial belonging to one place as a main characteristic of contemporary Judaism. The chapter’s second part examines literary and artistic projects that portray alternate histories of Jewish migration and statehood. Literature and art have the power of imagining realities that subvert the political state of affairs. Cultural artifacts that depict a “road not taken” in the history of Zionism expose the contingencies that have determined Jewish relocation particularly since the beginning of the twentieth century.

Citation

Almog, Y. (2024). Jewish Migration in Literature and the Visual Arts. In A. Rowlands, & E. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook for Religion and Contemporary Migration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190076511.013.4

• Online Publication Date: May 22, 2024
• Publication Date: May 22, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 4, 2024
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook for Religion and Contemporary Migration
• ISBN: 9780190076511
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190076511.013.4
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2472454