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Cairns, Lucille. Francophone Jewish Writers: Imagining Israel, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 53, Issue 3, July 2017, Page 373, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqx022
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Extract
Lucille Cairns’s study of Francophone Jewish writers and their works is underscored by the historical connection between France and Israel, which she traces back to before the state’s foundation in 1948 and continues in both modern states today, albeit in a decidedly more fraught way since 1958. This unique relationship provides both the backdrop and the impetus for her study, widening the net of francophonie to include Israel. Her book concentrates on two sides of the Francophone Jewish coin: Francophone Jews living in Israel, and Jews living in France with a strong affective connection to Israel. Cairns establishes the critical context of her contribution within this field: most historical or sociological studies of the Franco-Israeli connection have been from French sources, and in Cairns’s view are largely (and detrimentally) inflected with their own affective positions. Cairns proposes to address this shortcoming by tackling affect directly, through the study of Francophone literary representations or imaginings of Israel. She advocates for the importance of analysing the emotive and creative output of Francophone Jewish writers as a valuable perspective on what is often lacking in historical, political or sociological studies. The two central questions in the study are how Francophone Jewish writers mediate Israel in their literary work, and the roles of emotion, affect, cognition and ethics (as interwoven dimensions of human ontology) in these creative mediations. Using a vast array of primary texts, as well as interviews with Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi Francophone Jews, both male and female, Cairns delves into their literary output to present the historical basis of Israeli nationhood and its modern manifestations, the conflict between different Israeli demographics, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Franco-Israeli conflict that grows out of this. These macrocosmic battlegrounds are, crucially, always tied adroitly to perceptive close reading of primary texts, letting the literary contributions guide the analysis. As Cairns herself suggests, this study will be highly useful not only to scholars of contemporary Francophone literature, but also to those in Israeli studies, Jewish studies, conflict and identity studies, and beyond.
