https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1546-4671
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ABSTRACT
This article addresses an unstudied literary discourse pattern in Israeli literature, which it terms an ‘empty discourse’ on Israeli wars, suggesting that they have become a simultaneously absent and present theme in Israeli literature. The analysis is based on Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language, which serves to explain the mutual influence between the reality of war and war literature. Based on the literary analysis presented, the article suggests a wider typology for examining this issue in contemporary Israeli literature published after the 2006 Lebanon War.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Ben-Gurion, A War Journal, 270–1.
2. Yudkin, “The Jewish‐Arab Conflict.”
3. Domb, “Ideology, Identity, and Language.”
4. Wittgenstein, Philosophische Untersuchungen.
5. Ibid., 19.
6. Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.
7. Jaworski, “Silence in Institutional and Intercultural Contexts.”
8. Blaauw, “‘Denial and Silence’ ….”
9. Walton, “Photovoice.”
10. Ben-Dov, War Lives.
11. Klein, The First World War in Fiction.
12. Ben-David, From Philistines to Ziklag.
13. Meron, Facing the Silent Brother; and also Hever, “Suddenly, the Sight of War.”
14. Naveh and Manda-Levy, A Day of Battle.
15. Gabrieli-Nuri, “The Beautiful War.”
16. The two novels were published in English in a single volume titled, 1948 – A Soldier’s Tale: the Bloody Road to Jerusalem. Oneworld Publications, 2008.
17. Avnery The Other Side, 324.
18. Cohen, “Bereavement and Sacrifice.”
19. Yahav, What a Wonderful War.
20. Karsh, The Arab-Israeli Conflict.
21. See note 12 above.
22. Oppenheimer, Beyond the Fence.
23. See note 10 above.
24. The gender related implications that characterize war literature written by women are not manifested in Frankel’s novel and, consequently, the issue of gender remains beyond the scope of the current discussion. For more on this topic, see Murphy and Nile, “Writing Silence.”
25. Kaniuk, A Night on the Beach, 11.
26. Arbel, “The Trappist Monastery: The Rise of ….”
27. Schonfeld, Back from Lebanon, 87.
28. See note 6 above.
29. Wolf and Bernhart, Silence and Absence.
30. Milstein, The Battle of Nabi-Samuel.
31. Avital-Epstein, 1973: The Battle, 264.
32. Frankel, My Beloved Friend, 67.
33. Holtzman, “Trial by Fire.”
34. Orpaz, The Voyage of Daniel, 165.
35. Ibid., 200.
36. Shapira, Soldiers’ Discourse, 5–6.
37. Frankel, My Beloved Friend, 65.
38. Ben-Dov, War Lives, 361.
39. Orpaz, The Voyage of Daniel, 43–4.
40. Ibid.,11.
41. Avital-Epstein, 1973: The Battle, 324–5.
42. Ibid., 335.
43. Orpaz, The Voyage of Daniel, 9.
44. Yovel, Emotional Turmoil, 41.
45. Weiss, “From Lebanon to Gaza.”
46. Schonfeld, Back from Lebanon, 70.
47. Holtzman, Avigdor HaMeiri and War Literature, 7.
48. Hever, “Yom Kippur,” 86–95.
49. Gutfreund, Heroes Fly to Her, 386.
50. Ibid., 376.
51. Ibid., 377.
52. Avital-Epstein, 1973: The Battle, 353.
53. Talshir, A Wounded Lion, 280.
54. Cohen, I Didn’t Make It to the Litani.
55. Inbari, The Tank, 271.
56. Rosman and Israeli, “From ‘Rambo’ to ‘Sitting Ducks’.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Orna Levin
Orna Levin is Lecturer at the Department of Literature, Achva Academic College, Israel.