Hebrew and General Literature

Aesthetic pleasure, intellectual stimulation, critical thinking and nuanced emotional experiences

The curriculum of the Department of Literature opens a window to rich traditions of artistic written expression in world and Hebrew literature, prose and poetry, adult, youth and children's literature.

Besides the aesthetic pleasure, intellectual stimulation and nuanced emotional experiences provided by literature, its significance also arises from the fact that it serves as a central tool in the work of educators, from preschool through high school. At all of those stages a significant part of the teaching contents is imparted through literary devices because excellent works of literature raise personal and public issues, impart knowledge and philosophies, establish cultural norms, and help readers cope with personal problems.

The department also provides a systematic and thorough introduction to all of the branches of traditional research of literature and poetry and current trends in literary and cultural research. The program introduces students to masterpieces of world, Hebrew and Israeli literature, provides tools for the educated and critical interpretation of works of literature for adults and children, and cultivates contemplation of the relationship between literature and other arts (cinema, illustration), popular culture and therapeutic and educational processes.

The curriculum

Theoretical poetics (literary theory), descriptive poetics and historic poetics.

Comparative literature: the different periods, works, authors, schools, and genres in Western and Hebrew literature.

Children's and youth literature.

Cultural studies: reading the literary text with a focus on the subject and questions of collective identity, ideology, and popular structures of culture and literature.

Integrating the computer in the study and teaching of literature.