المستخلص: |
This research examines the play, Exile in Jerusalem (1989) written by the radical Israeli dramatist, Motti Lerner. The goal is to show that the early Zionist leaders, who adopted nationalist ideology, designated Hebrew as an official language to serve their project of establishing a nation in Palestine. The play is analyzed in the light of the theory of national socialism which early Zionists claimed to adopt though they disposed of the socialist principles in favor of nationalism. Probing into the characters of Else and Werner, the two non-Zionist Jewish characters in the play, reveals that both characters suffer from the imposed nationalist ideology exemplified in the enforcement of Hebrew as an official language. Else who resists any attempt at translating her German poems into Hebrew, loses her life as a result of hunger and coldness. Werner also leads a miserable life because he accepts to write an introduction in German to Else's poetry. The research reaches the conclusion that Israel has been built on an artificial culture illuminated in the revival of Hebrew language.
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