The Cultural Divide
Book Reading as a Signifier of Boundaries among Co-Cultures in Israeli Society
in Israel Studies ReviewSearch for other papers by Hanna Adoni in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Hillel Nossek in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
All currencies in US Dollar
This article investigates the function of book reading in a society consisting of a multiplicity of ethno-cultural communities, asking whether book reading functions as a unifying factor within each ethno-cultural community or as a dividing factor and as a signifier of boundaries between them. It is based on multiyear survey data among representative samples of Israeli urban adults (1970, 1990, 2001-2002, 2007, and 2011), focus groups, and analysis of bestseller lists (2001, 2002). The article demonstrates that book reading functions as a signifier of boundaries within Israeli society, namely between ethno-cultural co-cultures of veteran Jewish Israelis, Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Israeli Arabs. This supports Morley and Robins's claim that cultural consumption may be a divisive factor between the co-cultures within nation-states.