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A Poetics of Trauma

The Work of Dahlia Ravikovitch

Ilana Szobel

The work of the renowned Israeli poet, translator, peace activist, and 1998 Israel Prize laureate Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936–2005) portrays the emotional structure of a traumatized and victimized female character. Ilana Szobel’s book, the first full-length study of Ravikovitch in English, offers a theoretical discussion of the poetics of trauma and the politics of victimhood, as well as a rethinking of the notions of activity and passivity, strength and weakness. Analyzing the deep structure embodied in Ravikovitch’s work, Szobel unearths the interconnectedness of Ravikovitch’s private-poetic subjectivity and Israeli national identity, and shows how her unique poetics can help readers overcome cultural biases and sympathetically engage otherness.

Cover Image of A Poetics of Trauma: The Work of Dahlia Ravikovitch
Paper: $35 | E-book: $34.99
ISBN-13: 9781611683554
Pages: 198 | Size: 6 in. x 9 in.
Date Published: December 8, 2012
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About the Author

ILANA SZOBEL is an assistant professor in Hebrew Literature at Brandeis University.