When Worlds Collide: Y. Hurgin’s Tales of the Great War

Abstract:Yaʿaqov Ḥurgin is one of the Hebrew authors in Erets Yisraʾel to have represented World War I in the Middle East arena in his works, particularly the novella, Bein harerei Efrayim. His works dwell less on the war itself than on microcosmic, interpersonal conflicts among individuals as a mirror of the wider conflict. It is as if he were pointing to the cosmic phenomenon of ongoing tensions and conflicts among elements in creation, concrete or abstract. As part of this observation, Ḥurgin experiments, much like writers that follow, with the possibility of a junction of diverse cultural, religious, and ethnic values. His work challenges the Orientalist notion of bringing progress to so-called lesser civilizations, for the very same dark forces lurk beneath the surface of their own superficial culture.