Oedipal Narrative in Second-Generation Mizrahi Fiction

Mizrahi fiction in Israel displays a sharp awareness of the family. Immigration to Israel, like life pre and post-immigration is generally portrayed through the lens of family relationships and the awareness of the parents’ difficulty in adjusting to their new country. In this context, Mizrahi fiction rejects the Oedipal narrative that has been a central presence in Israeli fiction from the 1960s onward. As an alternative, it offers a narrative of intergenerational partnership and identification, principally between sons and fathers, that may be referred to as a “Negative-Oedipus” narrative (Freud).

In the works of Albert Suissa, Sami Berdugo, Yosi Avni, Dudu Busi and others, criticism is leveled at the fathers – not because of their difficulty in integrating into Israeli society – but because of their willingness to collaborate with the Israeli “melting pot” and shed their Arab traits. Identification with the fathers is channeled in Mizrahi fiction into a demand for remembrance of the Arab cultural and linguistic markers expunged during the process of absorption into Israel, even if these markers cannot be reinstated.