Exile, Pistols, and Promised Lands: Ibsen and Israeli Modernist Writers

oleh: Irina Ruppo

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-09-01

Deskripsi

Allusions to Henrik Ibsen&#8217;s plays in the works of two prominent Israeli modernist writers, Amos Oz&#8217;s autobiographical <i>A Tale of Love and Darkness</i> (2004) and David Grossman&#8217;s <i>The Zigzag Kid</i> (1994) examined in the context of the Israeli reception of Ibsen in the 1950s and 1960s. To establish the variety of meanings Ibsen&#8217;s plays had for the audiences of the Habimah production of <i>Peer Gynt</i> in 1952 and The Kameri production of <i>Hedda Gabler</i> in 1966, this article draws on newspaper reviews and actors&#8217; memoirs, as well as providing an analysis of Leah Goldberg&#8217;s translation of <i>Peer Gynt.</i> It emerges that both authors enlisted Ibsen in their exploration of the myths surrounding the formation of Israeli nationhood and identity.