Abstract
This chapter addresses how family crises are represented in Israeli literature written for young children. The foundation for the discussion is the assumption that the bulk of children’s literature bestows a false conception of “family” by obscuring its repressive, authoritarian aspects and accentuating the image of happiness, security, and belonging. However, this chapter points to a trend in Israeli literature observed since the 1980s: the publication of works for young children that seek to expose the repressive aspects of family life. In particular, they are stories based on the absence of intergenerational communication and the presence of emotional stress or even parental neglect. These stories present a sober, critical view of the high-powered traditional institution that, in children’s literature, is traditionally perceived as animagined, organic, almost-idyllic system, which in fact it is not. Even though the publication of such works in Israel coincides with similar trends worldwide, it is not a self-evident occurrence, given the character of Jewish-Hebrew culture, which sanctifies family life. This chapter discusses two works of children’s fiction, by Nurit Zarchi and Meir Shalev, that address the tension that arises between adult intimacy (husband and wife) and intergenerational intimacy (parents and children).
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Notes
- 1.
All translations quoted in this manuscript are free translations from the Hebrew and do not represent any official translation of the works and papers in question.
- 2.
- 3.
Regarding the relationship between the monitoring of the family for economic and national identity interests, see Cheal (2008, pp. 137–145).
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- 5.
This double-page spread is reminiscent in its form and content of the renowned middle pages in Maurice Sendak’s important book, Where the Wild Things Are. Illustrated in the middle are four monstrous wild animals with their sharp teeth exposed, and at their side is Miligram, the heroine of the story. This reference teaches us the metaphorical and emotional coping that she must go through, where her fears and inner world are exactly like those of Max, the hero in Sendak’s book (1963).
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- 7.
According to Shalev: “Regarding the claim that the book injures parental authority—nonsense! The parents and the boy in the story are playing a game of role reversal that is acceptable in any household…What do they mean? That children are not allowed to protest? He cannot disobey? What is this here, the Inquisition?” (Voletzky, 2005).
- 8.
Regarding the double loyalty in Meir Shalev’s work for children, see Sacerdoti (2000).
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Eshel, E.B. (2017). Intimacy in Crisis: Family Dysfunction in Israeli Literature for Preschool Readers. In: Padva, G., Buchweitz, N. (eds) Intimate Relationships in Cinema, Literature and Visual Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55281-1_4
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