Some Thoughts on Russian-Language Israeli Fiction: Introducing Dina Rubina

The article seeks to introduce Russian-language Israeli literature, specifically focusing on the works of one of its best-known representatives, Dina Rubina. The article traces the three most prominent themes in her works: the theater, the autobiography, and the cultural synthesis between post-Soviet and Israeli Jewish cultures accompanied by the complex linguistic relationships between Russian and Hebrew. Drawing on the Bakhtinian theories of the carnivalesque and of the humor associated with the lower bodily stratum, as well as on the topos of teatrum mundi and the legacy of Russian drama, the article examines Rubina’s commentary on Israeli society and culture. Her focus on the ridiculous and the absurd, on the permutations of masks and identities in Israel, and on the multifaceted immigrant experience is essential for understanding her writing.