European University Institute Library

Becoming Israeli, national ideals and everyday life in the 1950s, Anat Helman

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-267) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Becoming Israeli

bibliography

862349216

Anat Helman

Schusterman series in Israel studies

national ideals and everyday life in the 1950s

With a light touch and many wonderful illustrations, historian Anat Helman investigates "life on the ground" in Israel during the first years of statehood. She looks at how citizens--natives of the land, longtime immigrants, and newcomers--coped with the state's efforts to turn an incredibly diverse group of people into a homogenous whole. She investigates the efforts to make Hebrew the lingua franca of Israel, the uses of humor, and the effects of a constant military presence, along with such familiar aspects of daily life as communal dining on the kibbutz, the nightmare of trying to board a bus, and moviegoing as a form of escapism. In the process Helman shows how ordinary people adapted to the standards and rules of the political and cultural elites and negotiated the chaos of early statehood.--, Provided by Publisher

Introducing Israel in white -- The language of the melting pot -- The humorous side of rationing -- "A people in uniform" -- Taking the bus -- Going to the movies -- The communal dining hall -- Informality, straightforwardness, and rudeness