SOURCE: "Cultural Nationalism in Israeli Literature," in The Cry of Home: Cultural Nationalism and the Modern Writer, edited by H. Ernest Lewald, The University of Tennessee Press, 1972, pp. 334-49.

In the following essay, Ramras-Rauch considers the trends and subject matter of Israeli literature.

Introduction: the Problems of Israeli Literature

In speaking of Israeli literature we refer to a secular literature written in a sanctified language, a modern literature using a language which is ancient. It is a modern, secular literature in the sense of voicing current moods, in contemporary modes of expression, but it must use a language laden with religious and historic meaning. This is the dilemma going to the heart of Israeli literature. As a result, the creative framework of the Israeli writer is problem-laden, involving his relation not only to the language to whose use he is born, but also to the land in which...