Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Israel's Nobel Literature Prize Drought

Why aren't Israeli authors in line for Nobel prizes in the same way that Israeli scientists are? Giulio Meotti has some thoughts on the subject:
Israeli literature is sick and decadent. Literature is always a sort of mirror of a society and authors are always part of the nation’s moral backbone and those lay out a vision for the country. Israel’s secular intellectual community, which most famous writers belong to, developed a deep enmity toward anything it conceived as representing Judaism or the Jewishness of Zionism. This came to include the Bible, Jewish history, the history of the Land of Israel and the classical Hebrew literature.

Self-hatred, suicidal tendencies

Astonishingly, the leading group of authors in Israel expresses today only alienation, suicidal temptations, and even self-hatred to the point of automatic identification with Israel’s enemies in their writings. They are victims of an “Oslo Syndrome” in which hostages come to identify with their captors.  
Gee, you would think that would serve as an impetus for them to honour Amoz Oz or David Grossman (the Israelis mentioned most often as likely candidates for the Nobel); it worked for Harold Pinter, no?

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