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Why do Israelis dislike fantasy? Put so bluntly, the question
appears frivolous. But in fact, it goes to the deepest sources of
Israeli historical identity and literary tradition. Uniquely among
developed nations, Israel's origin is in a utopian novel, Theodor
Herzl's 'Altneuland' (1902), which predicted the future Jewish
state. Jewish writing in the Diaspora has always tended toward the
fantastic, the mystical, and the magical. And yet, from its very
inception, Israeli literature has been stubbornly realistic. The
present volume challenges this stance. Originally published in
Hebrew in 2009, it is the first serious, wide-ranging, and
theoretically sophisticated exploration of fantasy in Israeli
literature and culture. Its contributors jointly attempt to contest
the question posed at the beginning: why do Israelis, living in a
country whose very existence is predicated on the fulfillment of a
utopian dream, distrust fantasy?
This handbook is the first-of-its-kind comprehensive overview of
fantasy outside the Anglo-American hegemony. While most academic
studies of fantasy follow the well-trodden path of focusing on
Tolkien, Rowling, and others, our collection spotlights rich and
unique fantasy literatures in India, Australia, Italy, Greece,
Poland, Russia, China, and many other areas of Europe, Asia, and
the global South. The first part focuses on the theoretical aspects
of fantasy, broadening and modifying existing definitions to
accommodate the global reach of the genre. The second part contains
essays illuminating specific cultures, countries, and religious or
ethnic traditions. From Aboriginal myths to (self)-representation
of Tibet, from the appropriation of the Polish Witcher by the
American pop culture to modern Greek fantasy that does not rely on
stories of Olympian deities, and from Israeli vampires to Talmudic
sages, this collection is an indispensable reading for anyone
interested in fantasy fiction and global literature.Â
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