“How Jews see Jesus”: Christian References in Amos Oz’s Novel Judas
Maddalena Schiavo
Abstract
The debate around the relations between Christians and Jews has recently become one of the discussed issues in the cultural Israeli world. This article examines the references to Christianity and to Jesus in the contemporary Israeli literature. Through the analysis of some literary works produced by the best-known Israeli writers, we will try to describe the way the authors deal with Christian elements and explore their personal considerations. In particular a great attention will be devoted to Amos Oz’s last novel Judas, published in 2014. The story is based on the life of a young student who is writing a doctoral dissertation on “How Jews see Jesus” but it ends up focusing on the figure of Judas. In revealing the intent of his research the protagonist presents a detailed investigation of the Jewish attitude towards Christians quoting sources from the ancient times until today. Through Oz’s book it is possible to explore the complicated relationship between Christians and Jews and offers new starting points for future debates.
Keywords:
Jewish-Christian Relations, Israeli Literature, Jesus, Judas, Christian References, Dialogue.References
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Ur. 1980, doktorat w zakresie języków i kultury śródziemnomorskiej w Uniwersytecie we Florencji w 2009; magisterium w zakresie współczesnego języka i literatury hebrajskiej w uniwersytecie „L’Orientale” w Neapolu; w latach 2007-2008 studia w Uniwersytecie w Tel Aviv. W latach 2009-2010 konsultant dydaktyczny i manager we Włoskim Instytucie Kulturalnym w Tel Aviv. Od 2010 r. wykładowca współczesnego języka hebrajskiego na Uniwersytecie Papieskim w Rzymie. Zainteresowania naukowe: współczesny język i literatura hebrajska. Opublikowała m.in. (wraz z G. Steindler Moscati) Narrativa, Memoria e identità. Il volto femminile d’Israele, Milano 2011. Adres do koresponencji: maddalenaschiavo@virgilio.it
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