Ethnicity and Literature in the Work of Orly Castel-Bloom

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51854/bguy-35A115

Keywords:

challenging categories of social and cultural status, ethnic exclusion, Mizrahi ethnicity, Orly Castel-Bloom

Abstract

During the preparation of this issue, Smadar Shiffman passed away. Dr. Chen Edelsburg brought the article to a close. We thank her for her willingness and sensitive care in this work.

The article explores the writing of Orly-Castel Bloom and the question of ethnicity in Israeli society. Castel-Bloom unravels the tangle of identity in class and inter ethnic relations and reveals the blindness of the privileged ruling class in dealing with those who are disadvantaged on a symbolic as well as economic level. By putting into play the Israeli financial system and positioning its subjects in society, Castel-Bloom breaks up well-established dichotomies of identity without denying their repression. In her dealings with this as with other key issues she consistently debunks the existence of social stratification. Not only does she lay bare the myth of ethnic dominance, she does it by means of an absurd mock-definition of social privilege which shows it for what it is, a complete fiction.

Published

2021-07-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Ethnicity and Literature in the Work of Orly Castel-Bloom. (2021). IYUNIM: Multidisciplinary Studies in Israeli and Modern Jewish Society, 35, 116-133. https://doi.org/10.51854/bguy-35A115