Di generazione in generazione

Abstract

This essay focuses on a very interesting Israeli novelist and poet of mizrahi origin, ’Almog Behar (b. 1978), clarifying the most salient characteristics of his works – especially the novel Tchahlah ve-Hezqel – and the main issues there discussed. In order to better understand the works of Behar, I discuss them vis-à-vis the first three generations of mizrahi literature, from the «transit camp» novels of the 1950s to the new wave of the 1980s, up to today. By focusing on Behar, I intend to explain how it is nowadays possible to rewrite Israeli culture and society basing upon one’s family past and memories and, in so doing, open new scenarios for Israeli literature, as well as for mizrahi identity and for Arab-Jewish relations.