With Herzl and Freud : Psychoanalysis, Zionism and Modern Hebrew Culture

With Herzl and Freud : Psychoanalysis, Zionism and Modern Hebrew Culture
Eran Rolnik, MD, PhD

Course Description and Objectives:
The main objective of this course is to examine the affinity that early Zionists professed to find in Freud’s theory. Zionist thinking ranged far and wide across the field of modern science and philosophy. It engaged in an ongoing give and take with dominant ideas of its time that did not have any obvious connection to either nationalism or religious tradition. Among the images out of which Zionism constructed its image of the “New Jew” those pertaining to sexuality and masculinity played a central role. In pitching itself to young Jews, the Zionist revolution often played on eroticism and gender. We will read texts written by Freud and his followers, as well as political texts that highlights the psychological dimension of the Zionist revolution. These texts should help us think about the following questions:
- Is the psychoanalytic point of view applicable to the debates and dilemmas confronted by Zionist ideology?
- Can psychoanalysis as a psychological–critical theory and Zionism as an ideology and consciousness really live together?
- Did historical reality and the emerging new Hebrew culture play a role in shaping local psychoanalytic practice and ethics?
- It what way has the trauma of the Shoa informed the tension between psychoanalysis and Zionism?
Each lesson will consist of an introductory theoretical part and a reading assignment part in which we will read a text (psychoanalytic or political) in the class.
Learning Outcomes:
The course will provide:
1. An introduction to the basic ideas of psychoanalysis.
2. An introduction to the the Jewish and zionist dimension in the evolution of Psychoanalysis in late 19 Century and early 20. Century Vienna.
3. the possible applicability of psychoanalytic theory to the understanding of Zionism as an intellectual movement and ideology.
4. The role of sexuality and gender issue in the development of Zionism and of modern Hebrew culture
Evaluation:
An elective Mid-term oral presentation (25%)
Take-home Exam (75%)