Alexander Goldstein’s Tethys, or Mediterranean Mail: Russian-Israeli Literature as Levantine

My paper deals with the oeuvre of the Russian-Israeli writer and essayist Alexander Goldstein (1957–2006). One of Goldstein’s most important contributions to literary theory and the history of ideas was his elaboration of the concept of Russian-Israeli Levantine literature and an attempt to embody it in his writing. Whereas in Russia his literary heritage is now undergoing a process of canonization, critics have made little effort to situate Goldstein’s Levantine project in a worldwide literary context or in a theoretical framework. My presentation aims to redress this situation.