Abstract
Collective emotions of despair and hope have always resided at the core of the Jewish
experience and have played a role not only in centuries of religious life, but also in the modern
reclamation of a national political identity. A national ideology, however, always holds its own
preconceptions of hope and mourning. One example is the Israeli national anthem Ha-Tikva
(The Hope), which exemplifies the role that hope as a collective emotion has played in Israeli
history from its inception. Hope has not only been necessary for a forward-looking vision for
the newly formed Jewish nation, but also crucial as a motivating factor to foster a shared
national identity as well as acting as a powerful political catalyst.
This course explores important developments in the history of modern Israel through its culture
and socio-political discourse of emotions–From the national anthem, The Hope, adopted by
the Zionist movement in 1933, to the incumbent political party “The New Hope” that came
into power in the summer of 2021 and signifies the end of the Likud party’s rule. Throughout
the semester we will examine central texts in Israel Studies, such as historical documents and
various cultural objects, including visual arts, cinematic and literary texts, travelogues, and
other media. We will analyze them considering some Cultural and Affect Studies theories to
discover the social, cultural, political, economic, and aesthetic contexts in which these
objects/sources are embedded. We will also analyze some of the underlying tropes of emotions
that are prevalent in Israeli society. The role that emotions play in forming communal identities
will go beyond the context of Israeli national culture to help us understand how current
emotionally charged political movements inform the ways in which emotions can be co-opted
for political ends and can create social transformation.