Zionism and Melancholy: The Short Life of Israel Zarchi

by Nitzan Lebovic

Overview

Nitzan Lebovic claims that political melancholy is the defining trait of a generation of Israelis born between the 1960s and 1990s. This cohort came of age during wars, occupation and intifada, cultural conflict, and the failure of the Oslo Accords. The atmosphere of militarism and conservative state politics left little room for democratic opposition or dissent. Lebovic and others depict the failure to respond not only as a result of institutional pressure but as the effect of a long-lasting "left-wing melancholy." In order to understand its grip on Israeli society, Lebovic turns to the novels and short stories of Israel Zarchi. For him, Zarchi aptly describes the gap between the utopian hope present in Zionism since its early days and the melancholic reality of the present. Through personal engagement with Zarchi, Lebovic develops a philosophy of melancholy and shows how it pervades Israeli society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253041838
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	04/24/2019
Series:	New Jewish Philosophy and Thought
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	186
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nitzan Lebovic is Associate Professor of History and Apter Chair of Holocaust Studies and Ethical Values at Lehigh University. He is author of The Philosophy of Life and Death: Ludwig Klages and the Rise of a Nazi Biopolitics, the editor (with Roy Ben-Shai) of The Politics of Nihilism: From the Nineteenth Century to Contemporary Israel, and editor (with Andreas Killen) of Catastrophes: A History of an Operative Concept.

Table of Contents

List of Israel Zarchi's Works under Discussion

Preface

Introduction

1. The History of a Failure

2. The Early Novels

3. Jerusalem, Messianism, Emptiness

4. Political Theology and Left-Wing Melancholy

5. In an Unsown Land

6. The History and Theory of the Melancholic Discourse

7. The Revival of Hebrew: Utopia, Indistinction, Recurrence

Afterword

Selected Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

"

A truly original work that engages the pervasive condition of melancholy facing many progressive and left-wing artists, thinkers, scholars, and political actors. The short life of Israel Zarchi becomes the vehicle by which Nitzan Lebovic interrogates the demands, implications, and surprising virtues of the melancholic in the present.

"

Na'ama Rokem

Through Lebovic's gripping account we gain a sense of intimacy and a deep understanding of the Zarchi the man and Zarchi the author. ... The work is fundamentally and thoroughly interdisciplinary, moving deftly between intellectual history, literary studies, political philosophy, and psychoanalysis, to name the most important coordinates on Lebovic's map.

Eugene Sheppard

A truly original work that engages the pervasive condition of melancholy facing many progressive and left-wing artists, thinkers, scholars, and political actors. The short life of Israel Zarchi becomes the vehicle by which Nitzan Lebovic interrogates the demands, implications, and surprising virtues of the melancholic in the present.

Galili Shahar

A splendid text, learned and diligent, but not without resourcefulness of language. It's a scholarly work that is written like a melancholic novella.

Editorial Reviews

"A splendid text, learned and diligent, but not without resourcefulness of language. It's a scholarly work that is written like a melancholic novella."—Galili Shahar, Haaretz

"A truly original work that engages the pervasive condition of melancholy facing many progressive and left-wing artists, thinkers, scholars, and political actors. The short life of Israel Zarchi becomes the vehicle by which Nitzan Lebovic interrogates the demands, implications, and surprising virtues of the melancholic in the present."—Eugene Sheppard, author of Leo Strauss and the Politics of Exile: The Making of a Political Philosopher

"Through Lebovic's gripping account we gain a sense of intimacy and a deep understanding of the Zarchi the man and Zarchi the author. ... The work is fundamentally and thoroughly interdisciplinary, moving deftly between intellectual history, literary studies, political philosophy, and psychoanalysis, to name the most important coordinates on Lebovic's map."—Na'ama Rokem, author of Prosaic Conditions: Heinrich Heine and the Spaces of Zionist Literature

"Lebovic reveals a great deal about the work of Zarchi and the melancholic mindset of an entire generation of contemporary Israelis. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice

"Lebovic's main line of argumentation in the book is original and interesting. The monograph is a compelling contribution to the literary history of Hebrew prose. . . . The monograph . . . subtly unearths a voice in Hebrew literature that resonates with Israeli left-winged politics while differing from its major standpoints."—Political Theology

"While Zarchi's sizable oeuvre garnered critical attention, no systematic study of his life and work exists. Nitzan Lebovic's Zionism and Melancholy: The Short Life of Israel Zarchi helps fill this gap, and through an exploration of Zarchi's archive and interviews with family members, it presents previously unknown information about Zarchi's life and work. Lebovic's book is noteworthy for this reason alone."—Reading Religion

From the Publisher

While Zarchi's sizable oeuvre garnered critical attention, no systematic study of his life and work exists. Nitzan Lebovic's Zionism and Melancholy: The Short Life of Israel Zarchi helps fill this gap, and through an exploration of Zarchi's archive and interviews with family members, it presents previously unknown information about Zarchi's life and work. Lebovic's book is noteworthy for this reason alone.

Reading Religion

Lebovic's main line of argumentation in the book is original and interesting. The monograph is a compelling contribution to the literary history of Hebrew prose. . . . The monograph . . . subtly unearths a voice in Hebrew literature that resonates with Israeli left-winged politics while differing from its major standpoints.

Political Theology

Lebovic reveals a great deal about the work of Zarchi and the melancholic mindset of an entire generation of contemporary Israelis. . . . Highly recommended.

Choice

Lebovic's book reflects (not without irony) his own attempt to restore Zarchi's work and offers a new reading of his oeuvre. The result is a splendid essay, learned and diligent.

Psychoanalysis and History

It is the unique nature of Zarchi's melancholy that Lebovic aims to explore and explicate. This literary and, for Lebovic, political topic here receives scholarly attention for the first time.

Hebrew Studies - Orit Rozin