By exposing the rich and diverse textual and cultural legacy of this time and space, Alcalay reassesses the exclusion of Semitic culture in Europe from the perspective of contemporary Arabic culture and opposing images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This book will compel a revision of Jewish studies by placing contemporary Israeli culture within its Middle Eastern context and the terms of colonial, postcolonial, and multicultural discourse.

Ammiel Alcalay is a writer, translator, and poet living in New York City. Currently an assistant professor of classical and Oriental literatures at Queens College (CUNY), he has written numerous articles on literary and historical politics in the cultures of the Mediterranean.