Translatio andalusiae. Constructing local Jewish identity in southern France

Ram Ben-Shalom

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

This article explores the question of national group cohesion among the Jews of southern France. The numerous political borders and the expulsion of the Jews from Languedoc (1306) afford us the opportunity to examine local - Provençal - Jewish group identity, in contrast to a broader Jewish conception of nationhood. An analysis of some Hebrew documents demonstrates the signiicance of the expulsion of the Jews as the "destruction of my native land". This is one enlightening example of a unitary socio-cultural conception of the Provençal region, which did not recognize political borders. In contrast to the perception of global Jewish unity we ind a historical consciousness of the unique local character of the region. The primary marker of this Provençal identity was their Andalusian Jewish tradition.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)273-296
Number of pages24
JournalRevue de la Histoire des Religions
Volume234
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
* This research was supported by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee and The Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1754/12).

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