Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter Seven
CULTURE
During Israel's pre-state period and early years of statehood, culture was used to pro-
mote the creation of a coherent people, identity, and nation. In later decades, Israeli
artists often took a very critical stance, using art forms to examine their society's
values and actions. Israeli culture can only be described as widely varying. As in other facets
of Israeli life, the variety of themes, forms, and cultural output is remarkable for such a small
country. Today, Israel boasts a vibrant art, theater, music, and dance scene and produces nearly
7,000 new books per year, mostly in Hebrew.
Key expressions of culture evolved in Israeli society over the years. These include literature,
poetry, fi lm, music, theater, and dance, as well as food and sports. Integral to the expression
and evolution of culture are the media — including newspapers, radio, and television. The
proliferation of Internet access, together with the growth of the Internet itself, now gives Is-
raelis increased access to the global community and has further infl uences on the evolution of
Israeli culture.
LITERATURE
For many centuries, the Hebrew language existed almost exclusively in connection with Jew-
ish religious literature. But since Hebrew was the language of the ancient Jewish nation, the
Zionist movement was determined to revive it. For Hebrew to be used as a modern language
it had to be adapted to secular needs and acquire a vocabulary for everyday life and all other
aspects of contemporary culture. A key role in this process was played by Eliezer Ben Yehuda,
who compiled the fi rst modern Hebrew dictionary.
The new literature drew on tradition, took in foreign infl uences, and developed distinctive
characteristics to encompass the experiences of a reborn country. But the development of
modern Jewish literature actually began in the 1880s, with works in both Hebrew and Yiddish,
written mainly by Jews living in Russia.
Jewish authors had to decide which language to write in, although some used both at dif-
ferent points in their career. Hebrew was associated not only with Zionism but also with so-
phistication, while Yiddish was often perceived as a dialect, lacking the exalted association
with religion and ancient Israel. Yiddish remained generally more popular, though, precisely
because it was the daily means of communication for most Jews. But around the time of World
 
 
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