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The persistence of nostalgia? When Poles miss their Jews and Israelis yearn for Europe

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Abstract

The relevance of nostalgia and memory in the constitution of identity narratives of individuals and nation states is a well-documented phenomenon. Yet little is known about the function of nostalgia in the context of Israeli and Polish relations. The Holocaust experience has changed in dramatic ways how Jews and Poles relate to the category of nostalgia. In this essay Swetlana Boym’s distinction between ‘reflective nostalgia’ and ‘restorative nostalgia’ will serve as a starting point for a discussion about the function of nostalgia in the works of Israeli artist Yael Bartana and Polish artist Rafał Betlejewski, and about its role in facilitating the formation of new perceptions of the self and of the other and of new understandings of homelands.

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Volume/Issue

14(2-3)

Page Number / Article Number

140-152

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Link to article (paywalled), The persistence of nostalgia? When Poles miss their Jews and Israelis yearn for Europe

Bibliographic Information

Popescu, Diana I. The persistence of nostalgia? When Poles miss their Jews and Israelis yearn for Europe. Jewish Culture and History. 2013: 140-152.  https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1080/1462169X.2013.805897