An Interview with Esther Bendahan

in European Judaism
Author:
Adolfo Campoy-Cubillo Oakland University

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Esther Bendahan Independent writer

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This interview with the Sephardic novelist and translator Esther Bendahan provides unique insights into the historical events that surrounded the collapse of Jewish communities in Morocco during the second half of the twentieth century. Bendahan's knowledge of the social and political realities that informed Sephardic cultural production in Morocco, her ability as a scholar to interpret their significance in the wider context of Sephardism in the Maghreb, and her priceless insights as a first-hand witness of the diasporas triggered by the independence of European colonies throughout North Africa make her account and interpretation of these events extremely valuable. This interview pays special attention to the many ways in which Sephardic cultural production was, and remains, different from European traditions while simultaneously presenting itself as an intermediary between the East and the West.

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European Judaism

A Journal for the New Europe