From the Conquest of the Desert to Sustainable Development

The representation of the Negev in public discourse in Israel

Ilanit Ben-Dor Derimian

• Publisher: LIT Verlag
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9783643963901
• Topic: Lingue e linguistica
• Subtopic: Giornalismo

The Negev desert occupies most of the territory of Israel. It has a strategic importance for the existence of the center of the country and at the same time is considered as a natural wild periphery. Since the 1920s, there was a tendency to conquer and flourish the desert, while since the 1980s, the ecological values gained importance. This manuscript reveals the relationship between man and his environment, employing texts analysis according to the ecocriticism approach. The study shows how as part of globalization processes, the status of collectivism in Israeli society was declined whereas the ability of social groups to influence the spatial identity construction has increased. Dr. Ilanit Ben-Dor Derimian, lecturer specialized in Israel and Jewish culture and history studies, member of the Research Center of Foreign Cultures, Languages and Literatures (CECILLE), University of Lille, France.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Foreword
• Part I: Introduction Chapter 1: Place Identity Construction Processes
• Chapter 2: Perception of the Desert in Judaism and Zionism
• Part II: The Wilderness Conquest Discourse in Zionism and the Policy of Developing the Negev in the First Decades of the State of Israel
• Chapter 3: Spatial Identity Construction of the Negev Before Establishment of the State
• Chapter 4: Intensive Negev Development Since the State’s Establishment in 1948
• Part III: “Sustainable Negev” Discourse and the Negev’s Development Policy in Recent Decades
• Chapter 5: “Sustainable Development” Discourse
• Chapter 6: “Sustainable Negev’s” Identity Reconstruction
• Chapter 7: Mitzpe Ramon – “Desert Tourism Capital”
• Chapter 8: The Desert in Hebrew Literature
• Summary and Conclusions
• Bibliography