Image of the city, image of the village: perspectives on cultural landscapes in Israel’s school readers

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the representations of rural and urban cultural landscapes in the primary educational tool during Israel’s formative decades – Mikraot Israel readers – in an attempt to provide a better understanding of the overt and tacit messages intended for the target audience. By way of doing so, the article proceeds along two main axes: a) The ideological tension between frontier/periphery and the centre/city; and b) A historic-chronological exploration of the different representations throughout Israel’s history. Finally, the article compares between original and translated literature.