Home and Identities in Yael Dayan's Death Had Two Sons and Elie
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Home and Identities in Yael Dayan’s Death Had Two Sons and Elie Wiesel’s The Forgotten: A Contrapuntal Reading A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in English by Lucy Keneikhrienuo Yhome Reg. No.1730024 Under the Supervision of Saji Varghese Associate Professor Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BENGALURU, INDIA December 2018 Approval of Dissertation Dissertation entitled Home and Identities in Yael Dayan’s Death Had Two Sons and Elie Wiesel’s The Forgotten: A Contrapuntal Reading by Lucy Keneikhrienuo Yhome, Reg. No.1730024 is approved for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English. Supervisor: ______________________________________ Chairperson: ______________________________________ General Research Coordinator: ______________________________________ Date: ………………. Place: Bengaluru ii DECLARATION I Lucy Keneikhrienuo Yhome hereby declare that the dissertation, titled Home and Identities in Yael Dayan’s Death Had Two Sons and Elie Wiesel’s The Forgotten: A Contrapuntal Reading is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English. I have completed this study under the supervision of Dr. Saji Varghese, Associate Professor, Department of English. I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation. Place: Bengaluru Date: ………………. Lucy Keneikhrienuo Yhome Reg No. 1730024 Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru iii CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation submitted by Lucy Keneikhrienuo Yhome (Reg. No. 1730024) titled ‘Home and Identities in Yael Dayan’s Death Had Two Sons and Elie Wiesel’s The Forgotten: A Contrapuntal Reading’ is a record of research work done by him/her during the academic year 2017-2018 under my/our supervision in partial fulfillment for the award of Master of Philosophy in English. This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation. Place: Bengaluru Date: ……………. Saji Varghese Associate Professor Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru Head of the Department Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru iv Acknowledgement I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to some important people who has been supportive throughout my journey of research. To begin with, I would like to thank the Almighty God whose limitless love and blessings of inspirations enabled me to complete my research. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my guide Dr. Saji Varghese, for his for unwavering guidance, valuable time and encouragement which enabled me to complete my research paper. I am extremely grateful to my internal examiner, Dr. Bidyut Bhusan Jena whose valuable feeback and suggestion have help improved my research. My heartfelt gratitude to Dr. V Shantha, Head, Department of English, Jyoti Nivas College PG Center for her constant support and invaluable guidance in the journey of my research. I am also grateful to the Department of English, Christ University for providing me a valuable opportunity to write the thesis. Lastly, I thank my family and friends who have stood by me and support me with prayers and love in this journey, I would especially like to thank Dr. K Teresa Yhome and Father. Avilhou Stephen, whose prayers and support has helped me in completing this research. Lucy Keneikhrienuo Yhome v Abstract Yael Dayan’s Death Had Two Sons (1967) and Elie Wiesel’s The Forgotten (1992) articulate the European Jews survivor’s migrant experience to Israel and their conception of home and identity that deconstructs fixity and singularity. The notion of home, belonging and identity have been shaped within the interplay of the attachment to Israel and the home of the lived experience, this results in a contrapuntal understanding of home, belonging and identity. The dissertations aims to prove that home and identities in Jewish Diaspora as represented in the texts are plural which is shaped from the individual subject position. Using Avtar Brah’s and Femke Stock’s theories of ‘Home’ and Stuart Hall’s and Bhabha’s theorization of cultural identity, the dissertation reflects how the European- Jewish, identities and conceptions of home since the establishment of Israel and the impact of migration led to the formation of new identities, the already hyphenated identity is marked by in-betweeness and hybridity whereas notion of home are recreated which is found in several axes in terms of locations, mythic, symbolic and lived experience. Contrapuntal Reading is done in two trajectories; a contrapuntal reading within the text is done through a study of the major characters in terms of defining home and identity; The second aspect of the reading is bringing out ‘the Paradox of Homeland and Diaspora’ by locating homeland and Diaspora. Through the method of a Contrapuntal Reading of the texts, the primary text in the dissertation, Death Had Two Sons and The Forgotten bring forth the polyphonic voices of the characters in the texts that state that there is no singular notion of home and identities in the Jewish Diaspora. The dissertations engaged in the history of the Holocaust and the displacement caused by it, the characters in the texts are European Diaspora Jews who is displaced after the Holocaust and immigrated to Israel. The multiple meanings of home, identities provides vi dynamic and fluid ways for the Diaspora Jews to belong but at the same time this multiple homes also confused the individual where they cannot identify or belong to a single space and thus create a conundrum. Key-Words: Jewish Diaspora, Holocaust, European Jews, migration, Identity, Home. vii Contents Approval of Dissertation ii Declaration iii Certificate iv Acknowledgements v Abstract vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Understanding the Jewish Diaspora from the Historical to the Modern Day Diaspora 1.1.1 Jewish Diaspora after the Holocaust: Jews in Europe 2 1.1.2 The Zionist Movement 4 1.1.3 Understanding Contrapuntal 5 1.2. Review of Literature 1.2.1 Diaspora and Homeland Relations 8 1.2.2 Home and Identities 10 1.2.3 Introducing Primary Texts: About the Authors 12 1.2.4 Choice of Texts 14 1.2.5 Review of Primary Texts 15 1.3. Research Argument 18 1.4. Research Questions 18 1.5. Research Objectives 18 1.6. Research Method and Methodology 19 1.7. Theoretical Framework 19 1.8. Significance 22 Works Cited 23 viii Chapter 2: Reading the Notion of Home and Identities in Yael Dayan’s Death Had Two Sons 2.1 Understanding Home 27 2.1.1 Myth of Homeland and the Politics of Israel 28 2.1.2 Homing and Unhoming: Constructing Home through Memory 31 2.2 Jewish Identities in Post War Israel: Othering and Diasporic Memories 2.2.1 Negotiating Identity through “Othering” 36 2.2.2 Diasporic Memories and Fragmented Identities 45 Works Cited 52 Chapter 3: Negotiating Home and Identities in Elie Wiesel’s The Forgotten 3.1 Locating Home 56 3.1.1 Shaping Home in Post War 1948 and Myth of Israel 58 3.1.2 Lost Homes, Reinvented Homes: Dynamic Belonging 63 3.2 Shaping Jewish Identities in Post- War 1948: Memory, Fragmentation, and Hybridity 68 Works Cited 80 Chapter 4: A Contrapuntal Reading 83 Works Cited 95 Chapter 5: Conclusion 5.1 Research Findings 96 5.2 Limitations and Scope for further Research 100 Works Cited 102 Bibliography 103 ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Understanding the Jewish Diaspora from the Historical to the Modern Day Diaspora The term “Diaspora” refers to the dispersion of Jews from Palestine and the Jewish communities living outside Israel. Historically, “Diaspora” is used to refer to the Jewish Diaspora deriving its origin from the Greek word ‘dia’ and ‘spiero’ meaning ‘through’ and ‘scatter’. The concept of Diaspora first emerged from the Septuagint and Midrashic rabbinical writings which were used to describe the Jewish Diaspora. The earlier historical models of Diaspora include the Jews, Armenians and the trans-Atlantic slave of Africa. The Jewish Diaspora dated back to the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and the subsequent Dispersal of Jews from the Holy Land in Judea beginning a period of Babylonian Exile. (Braziel 13). William Safran’s “The Jewish Diaspora in a Comparative and a Theoretical Perspective” brings out six features of Diaspora, one feature is “They, or their ancestors, have been dispersed from a specific original “center” to two or more peripheral, or foreign, regions.³” (Safran 37). Safran defines the Jewish Diaspora as a prototype, and their exile holds a significant meaning of minority and powerlessness. The Jewish Diaspora as a prototype has become problematic in the view of many scholars who normalizes Diaspora as a choice. In contemporary times Diaspora is studied in various nuances where theorists and scholars have redefined the usage of Diaspora from its historical meanings. The concept of Diaspora has been applied by historians and scholars under the rubric of ethnic nationalities and religious communities. The study of Diaspora has immensely increased with more migrations and geopolitical shifts in Homeland. The Jewish Diaspora Yhome 2 continues to be used as a prototype in the modern Diaspora studies because of its engagement with the ethno cultural, religion, history of migration and orientation to the Homeland. (Safran). The study of Diaspora is subjected to several relocations, from the primary to secondary homelands where it has become difficult to trace their origin; difficulty of defining where is Homeland and Hostland.