Jewish Contiguities and the Soundtrack of Israeli History
Assaf Shelleg
Reviews and Awards
Winner of the Joel Engel Prize
Winner of the Association for Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer Book Prize
"Jewish Contiguities and the Soundtrack of Israeli History is a complex, bold and highly original study of the history of art music in pre- and post-state Israel. With an exceptional erudition in each field he brings to bear (musicology, Hebrew literature, Israel history, cultural studies) and superb command over the musical métier, Assaf Shelleg stages an arresting narrative about a unique musical modernism, adding an exemplary chapter to our understanding of how music negotiates with nationalism, exoticism, and dislocation, gradually allowing for a repressed sonic past to emerge into a vexed foreground." -Ruth HaCohen, Artur Rubinstein Professor of Musicology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"This path-breaking book demolishes old myths about Israeli music's origins; transforms our understanding of the relationship between Jews, antisemitism, and classical music; and introduces a powerful new voice into the field of Israeli cultural history." -James Loeffler, Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia and author of The Most Musical Nation: Jews and Culture in the Late Russian Empire
"Assaf Shelleg's inspiring study of Israeli music is an impressive investigation and important contribution to Jewish Studies, Israel studies, music, and cultural studies. Shelleg problematizes the issues of Israeli culture through the aesthetic and cultural desires of composers searching for non-European based sounds and interrogates composers' attempts to create Israeli musical culture in dialogue with Middle Eastern sound aesthetics. Shelleg's methodology is sophisticated and his writing is eloquent. Jewish Contiguities and the Soundtrack of Israeli History casts the world of composers, their music and audience, as well as Israeli culture into the complex history of Israel in the twentieth century. We have no doubt this book will be read for years to come. It will be a catalyst for other conversations based on Shelleg's intriguing inquiry into Israeli culture and music."--Association for Jewish Studies awards committee