Roots in the Air

Book excerpt: Anglophone Israeli Literature comprises a loose community of more than 500 authors and it has co-existed with the Hebrew writing tradition in Israel since the 1970s. Consisting mainly of immigrants from Anglophone countries, Anglophone Israeli Literature is characterized by a search for personal and poetic identity in a highly transcultural environment, challenging settled identities and opting instead for flexibility, flux and inclusion. The present volume considers Anglophone Israeli Literature a a phenomenon in its critical, social and historical aspects on the one hand and explores the specific mechanisms of constructing and representing poetic identity on the other hand. The book analyzes three pivotal elements of identity: language, geography and place, and political and emotional self-positioning towards the Other.