What we talk about when we talk about Hebrew : and what it means to Americans / edited by Naomi B. Sokoloff and Nancy E. Berg.

Based on a symposium held in 2016.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Can Hebrew Save the Humanities? / Nancy E. Berg and Naomi B. Sokoloff -- Hebrew and the Creative Imagination. Living in Hebrew: On Jealousy and Creativity / Dara Horn -- Dying in Hebrew: The Palace of Memory / Ilan Stavans -- Hebrew and the Academy. The Anxiety of Authenticity: Hebrew, Sushi, and Suspicious Objects / Nancy E. Berg -- Language Memoir: The Case for Hebrew / Naomi B. Sokoloff -- H is for Hebrew: Hawking a Resacralized Hebrew in America / Wendy Zierler -- Hebrew and the Community. Curating Connections: Public Scholarship, New Media, and Building Bridges to Hebrew Culture / Hannah S. Pressman -- Hebrew Infusion in American Jewish Life: Tensions and the Role of Israeli Hebrew / Sarah Bunin Benor -- Hebrew and the Cross-Cultural Text. Embracing Allegory, or Rereading American Hebrew Poetry in Jerusalem / Adam Rovner -- "Not My Mother Tongue": Hebrew Literature in Translation / Adriana X. Jacobs -- How Acting Lessons Have Made Me a Better Hebrew Poet / Robert Whitehill-Bashan -- Robert Whitehill-Bashan and the Prospects for a New American Hebrew Literature / Michael Weingrad -- Hebrew and the Hebraist Agenda. Hebrew in America: A Memoir / Alan Mintz -- Afterword: About the Title, or, What We Talk about When We Talk about Our Title.

Description based on print version record.

"Why Hebrew, here and now? What is its value for contemporary Americans? In What We Talk about When We Talk about Hebrew (and What It Means to Americans) scholars, writers, and translators tackle a series of urgent questions that arise from the changing status of Hebrew in the United States. To what extent is that status affected by evolving Jewish identities and shifting attitudes toward Israel and Zionism? Will Hebrew programs survive the current crisis in the humanities on university campuses? How can the vibrancy of Hebrew literature be conveyed to a larger audience? The volume features a diverse group of distinguished contributors, including Sarah Bunin Benor, Dara Horn, Adriana Jacobs, Alan Mintz, Hannah Pressman, Adam Rovner, Ilan Stavans, Michael Weingrad, Robert Whitehill-Bashan, and Wendy Zierler. With lively personal insights, their essays give fellow Americans a glimpse into the richness of an exceptional language. Celebrating the vitality of modern Hebrew, this book addresses the challenges and joys of being a Hebraist in America in the twenty-first century. Together these essays explore ways to rekindle an interest in Hebrew studies, focusing not just on what Hebrew means--as a global phenomenon and long-lived tradition--but on what it can mean to Americans." -- Publisher's description.

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