JWST 491T(S) Exile, Homecoming and the Promised Land (Same as Comparative Literature 309T and Religion 289T) (W) (D)

REL 289T(S) (formerly 309) Exile, Homecoming and the Promised Land (Same as Comparative Literature 309T and Jewish Studies 491T) (W) (D)
In terms of vocabulary and metaphor, the Jewish experience of exile pervades modern, western discourse on the experience of being alienated, severed, and separated from one's national and natural homeland. Thus in this course we will take the Jewish experience of exile (galut) as our point of departure for a broader discussion of these themes as they relate to other diasporic communities. As a consequence of increased mobility, political instabilities, economic insecurity and the proliferation of means of communication, the state of Diaspora increasingly characterizes populations across the globe, from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. While we will not focus specifically on these communities, one of our tasks will be to discover how the Jewish experience shapes the discourse on exile and Diaspora that pervades modern discussions of displacement and emigration. We must further consider what is at stake politically and philosophically in privileging the Jewish experience, especially given the post-1948 community of Palestinian refugees. To illuminate this discussion we will draw on the literature of the Jewish tradition from the Hebrew Bible and rabbis to Twentieth Century accounts and reflections of Franz Kafka, Walter Benjamin and Emmanuel Levinas, as well as materials that reflect the voices of other refugee communities. We will then move to examine the relationship of the notion of the homeland to that of the promised land. We will consider the ambivalence in the nineteenth and twentieth century concerning discourse of blood and soil, and the consequent possibility that exile and rootlessness could signal positively.
Format: tutorial. Requirements: meeting in pairs, each student will either write and present a paper or respond to their partner's paper. Each student will write and present a 5-page paper on alternating weeks. On the weeks in which the student is not presenting, she will be expected to write a 1- to 2-page critique/response to her classmate's paper. The final assignment will be an 8- to 10-page paper that expands on an issue or question raised in class.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 10 (expected: 10). Preference given to Religion majors. This course will also serve as the capstone course for senior Jewish Studies Concentrators.
Tutorial meetings to be arranged. HAMMERSCHLAG