The Fantastic in Ya’akov Cahan’s Play David King of Israel: Psychical Dialectic in the Spirit of Zionism
Keywords:
Ya’akov Cahan, David King of Israel, The fantastic, Zionism, Coming of age, Children’s theaterAbstract
Ya’akov Cahan’s play, ‘David King of Israel’, was one of the main productions of the Bamatenu (Our Stage) children’s theater in 1947-1948. It tells the story of Uri’s marvelous journey from the diaspora to the fatherland in the quest of a cave where King David sleeps on golden panels with a water-filled vessel at his side, and whenever the water spills into his palms he awakes to save his people. Cahan’s drama, based on legends in Jewish tradition and European culture, contains an array of fantastic characters. This article discusses Uri’s coming of age and its parallel with the fulfillment of the Zionistic dream. In other words, it examines the connection between ideology and fantasy and shows how the play illuminates the manner in which a psychic process is woven into the Zionistic worldview. It also looks at the play’s age appropriateness for young audiences.
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