Same and similar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Equal and more equal (Heb. שווים ושווים יותר) is the first, in 1974 published novel by Israeli author Sami Michael .

background

The novel, the title of which is based on a sentence from Animal Farm by George Orwell , broke numerous taboos in Israeli society regarding the coexistence of the so-called country teams (êdá עדה) of the Jews in Israel, i.e. the Ashkenazi, the Sephardi, the Yemenites and the native “Sabra”. The state was built up mainly by Ashkenazi Jews, i.e. those who had immigrated from the "western" countries, as well as the Sabra, who were then in the minority, who stamped the country and those from the "oriental" countries after the state was founded immigrant Jews regarded as culturally inferior. As a “ melting pot ”, the army offered opportunities for advancement and represented an integrating factor.

action

The novel contains a framework narrative that takes place in the 1967 Six Day War and is resumed at the beginning of each chapter. The first-person narrator goes to war, is wounded in Sinai, rescues his comrades from the downed transport tank and from dispersed Egyptian soldiers and is finally awarded for it. In retrospect, the integration of his family, who immigrated from Iraq at the beginning of the 1950s, is described, the accommodation in reception camps, the disadvantage when looking for a job, his love story with an Ashkenazi Jew and the social advancement of his older brother to a lawyer.

reception

In August 1974, the Israeli newspaper Davar wrote : “This is a novel that will shake up public opinion on discrimination against compatriots.” The novel has become part of the canon of modern Israeli literature. It provides essential insights into Israel from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The title Equals and Equals became a household word among those who had immigrated from Islamic countries and who fought for equality and social justice in Israel in the 1970s. Since such discrimination was discovered again and again, the expression he coined was able to gain a foothold in common parlance.

Editing as a play

Michael's novel was adapted into a theater play in 1980 and 1998.

expenditure

The novel was published by Bustan Verlag in 1974, and numerous new editions followed. In 2013 his German translation, provided by Aron Schatten, was published by the publishing house on the Ruffel ISBN 978-3-933847-33-1 .

Secondary literature

  • Nancy Berg (University of Washington): More and More Equal - The Literary Works of Sami Michael , ISBN 0-7391-0828-X

Web links