Abstract
Legitimatizing Defiant Discourses
Zohar Kampf
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
The aim of this special review section is two-fold. First, it consists of five intellectual responses to Tamar Katriel’s recent book, Defiant Discourses: Speech and Action in Grassroots Activism, written by distinguished scholars in the fields of communication, media, sociology, and linguistic-anthropology: Larry Gross (editor of International Journal of Communication; University of Southern California), Yael Zerubavel (the founding Director of the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life; Rutgers University); Tommaso Milani (editor of Language in Society; University of Gothenburg), Anna Reading (editor of Media, Culture & Society; Kings College, London), and Chaim Noy (Immediate past Chairperson of the Israeli Communication Association, and Chair of the School of Communication; Bar-Ilan University).
While each review was written from a distinct disciplinary perspective, when read together as a unified piece, the reviews not only underline the important contribution the book offers to traditional and current debates in social and political discourse scholarship, but also serve as an intellectual endeavor in and of itself. The five texts provide exceptional academic and personal reflections on some of the most current issues and puzzling enigmas in the social sciences and humanities, including the speech-action nexus, language and social change, peace activism, mediated witnessing, and political memory – all of which examined in the context of the troubling political reality of the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
Second, this section can be read as a defiant text. It aims at posing a challenge to mainstream Israeli worldviews by way of celebrating a book that presents the history of soldierly opposition to official policies and practices in Israel and explains Israeli activism and defiance against the occupation in Palestine. This kind of protest is heavily attacked in Israel today. When a defiant worldview is articulated, its carriers may be accused of anti-Semitism (in the case of non-Jewish figures criticizing Israeli policy), self-hate (in the case of Jewish diaspora figures criticizing Israel), and treason (in the case of Jewish citizens of Israel criticizing Israel). And when defiance is voiced by those who are supposed to be the conformist products of the Israeli education system, boys and girls in the age of 18 who are about to serve in the army, public rage is high and political efforts are invested in silencing rebelliousness. Adopting Hanna Arendt’s position according to which writing is an activist action, this section is an organized effort to display defiance.
The importance of Defiant Discourses to democratic education is unquestioned. It underlines the significance of protest to readers who live in countries that delegitimize opposition, cultivate a constant sense of threat, and promote politics of fear that allow(s) harming all what is precious for those who wish to live in a decent society, ‘whose institutions do not humiliate people’ (Margalit, 1996: 1). The book presents opposition as essential to the establishment of a just society and delivers a forceful message: defiance is an act of belonging, of non-conforming solidarity or limited non-conformity. It demands a delicate balance between playing by the rules of the democratic game and uncompromised commitment to values that oppositional actors perceive as essential to a healthy democracy.
This powerful message comes from Tamar Katriel, a linguistic-anthropologist from Haifa University who is responsible for several thought-provoking, influential contributions such as Dialogic Moments: From Soul Talks to Talk Radio in Israeli Culture (Wayne State University Press, 2004); Performing the Past: A Study of Israeli Settlement Museums (Erlbaum, 1997); Communal Webs: Communication and Culture in Contemporary Israel (SUNY Press, 1991); Talking Straight: Dugri Speech in Israeli Sabra Culture (Cambridge University Press, 1986). What is unique about Defiant Discourses is that it is probably Katriel’s most personal book. Although politically committed to the ending of the occupation and to advancing oppositional groups that are critical of the Israeli official policy, the political voice of Katriel could be only gleaned from the pages of her previous books. For the first time her voice is of an insider, an engaged scholar who took part in some of the activities presented in the book, reflecting with curiosity and a steady moral compass about their meaning and consequences.
And what a powerful voice it is. Throughout the six chapters of the book, Katriel observes, interprets, and discusses the Israeli political reality in a brave, clear, and direct way. She is not shy from using words that may distance both her supporters and adversaries: walls versus barriers, occupation, and terrorism and Israeli-Palestinian shared responsibility for the conflict are but three examples. Katriel lashes out at Israeli nationalist groups and at the same time argues with Israeli scholars who propose radical solutions for ending the occupation – violent resistance, immigration or just giving up. The word Truth, sometimes in its essentialist meaning, is mentioned several times throughout the book, articulating a fearless voice that cannot be silenced or ignored. Katriel’s voice carries the heroics of speech – a political statement, one that will hopefully set an intellectual, public agenda by celebrating Israeli activism and defiance against the occupation in Palestine.