ABSTRACT
The body-nation trope familiar from the Bible has been deconstructed in Israeli and diaspora writing to subvert the bond with the nation and the Land of Israel. The grotesque dismemberment in Orly Castel-Bloom’s Dolly City provides an archetypal example. A different example is the “sleeping with the enemy” story of Jewish-Arab love, which tests loyalty and betrayal in sex and politics. Sex and politics provide an analogy also for Jewish American authors who unravel the complexities of dual loyalties. The novels discussed include Nathan Englander’s Dinner at the Center of the Earth, Dorit Rabinyan’s All the Rivers, Michal Govrin’s Snapshots, Moriel Rothman-Zecher’s Sadness Is a White Bird , and David Bezmozgis’s The Betrayers .
