To Be or Not to Be an Israeli Arab: Sayed Kashua and the Prospect of Minority Speech-Acts

This essay is dedicated to the writings of Sayed Kashua, the young Israeli Palestinian novelist, journalist, and screenwriter who has become a central, if controversial, figure within the Israeli public domain: a target of both political and literary praise and blame. Specifically the essay examines Kashua's active participation in the Israeli (Hebrew) public sphere and the way in which his writings take part in the construction of a critical minority discourse. Regarding the experience of the Israeli Palestinian as a site of productive ironic performativity, Kashua's texts, I conclude, break open the monolithic image of the nation, exposing the inherent violence and contradictions involved in positioning Israel as a "Jewish State" and in situating Israeli Palestinians as incomplete members of either Israeli or Palestinian (national) collectives.

Bibliography:


Hochberg, Gil. "To Be or Not to Be an Israeli Arab: Sayed Kashua and the Prospect of Minority Speech-Acts". Comparative Literature, 62, 1 (2010), 68-88.
Follow these links for more related resources: