Liberalization and Culture in Contemporary Israel

By (author) Ari Ofengenden

Publication date:

15 September 2018

Length of book:

212 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498570350

In this book Ari Ofengenden examines the ways that Israel’s integration into global economy has affected its main stream culture. Ofengenden uses works of Israeli film, literature, and television, from the past 30 years to conceptualize the changes in Israel’s culture. He analyzes the central phenomena associated with Israel’s integration into the global economy including: the demise of realism and the rise of commercial culture, the production of film, television, and novels for western audiences, and the critiques of capitalism in media. Ofengenden also explores the refiguring national identity through critique of masculinity. The book also discusses the affect globalization and marketization has had on modern narratives of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter One: Economics and Cultural Globalization in Israel: A Historical Introduction
Chapter Two: Marketization in Israeli Television, Film and Literature
Chapter Three: It Ain’t Europe Here
Chapter Four: Refiguring National Identity under Globalization
Chapter Five: The New Discourses or the Culture of the Left
Chapter Six: New Dystopias in Israeli Fiction
Chapter Seven: The Conflict Beyond Nationalism: The Second Intifada in Film and Narrative
Conclusion: Contextualizing Israel in a Global Knowledge-Society
Bibliography
About the Author

This is a timely study that offers a unique, if not outright, ignored perspective on modern Hebrew culture. While most studies on modern Hebrew culture tend to focus on the construction of national and ethnic identities, this study underscores the crucial role of economic and social processes in shaping the Israeli cultural landscape.