Language:
English
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
Imagined Israel(s)
Angaben zur Quelle:
(2023) 129-144
Keywords:
American fiction 20th century
;
Spy stories History and criticism
;
Israelis in literature
;
Arab-Israeli conflict Literature and the conflict
;
Six Day War, 1967 Influence
;
Politics in literature
;
Israel In literature
Abstract:
During the twentieth century, more than 150 political thrillers and spy novels appeared with characterization and plots that related specifically to Israelis and the Arab-Israeli conflict. In a genre of fiction where characters and the “plot” are vital, the portrayal of Israelis is an important indicator of political perception. These novels illustrate that as the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict changed, so too did American views of Israelis as seen through the lens of crime fiction both with regard to the authors’ perceptions of political events and to how publishers have gauged readers’ receptivity to their presentations of these events. Israeli heroes, including James-Bond- and Rambo-types, suddenly appeared and disappeared; the negative Israeli emerged; and by the end of the century, as authors got tired of writing about the Arab-Israeli conflict and as new threats appeared in news, different sorts of heroes emerged.
DOI:
10.1163/9789004530720_009
URL:
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