F0705 Israeli History and Identity

The course deals with the construction of the Israeli historical narrative as an identity-building narrative, intending to inculcate a collective memory to a diverse society.

We will focus on key events and essential representations that shaped the collective identity of the Israeli society from the beginning of the Zionist movement till the present.

In particular we will stress the role that the official historical narrative played within the system of education, and we will trace its change over time. We will also discuss the phenomenon of academic revisionist history known as post-Zionism, and its influence on the teaching of national history and on the writing of textbook.