Rhetoric and Nation: The Formation of Hebrew National Culture, 1880-1990 (Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art)

Recent and commonly accepted criticism holds that written and spoken Hebrew reveals a shared logic, a collective rhetoric that is identifiable and can be traced as an evolving phenomenon throughout the centuries. In Rhetoric and Nation, Ginsburg charts the emergence and formation of the Hebrew discourse of the nation from the late nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. In doing so, he challenges these notions of a common rhetoric by considering three areas of writing: literature, literary and cultural criticism, and ideological and political writings. Ginsburg argues that each text presents its own singular logic. Some writing is determined by social and historical context. Other writings are determined by the biographies of their authors, still others by genre. Through close readings of key canonical texts, Rhetoric and Nation demonstrates that the Hebrew discourse of the nation should not be conceived as coherent and cohesive but, rather, as an assemblage of singular, disparate moments.