An Incomplete Frame Narrative Revisited: S. Yizhar’s Introduction to “Hirbet Hiz‘ah”

S. Yizhar’s 1949 “Hirbet Hiz‘ah” contains a puzzling narrative frame, which is not closed at the novella’s ending. This article analyzes Yizhar’s interest in this device in light of a recently discovered, previously unpublished introduction to the novella written by Yizhar himself. I argue that Yizhar’s incomplete framing device should be viewed as integral to his story. Read against his introduction, I claim that “Hirbet Hiz‘ah” is first and foremost about the rending of a harmonious ethical and Zionist identity in 1948, whereas the actual expulsion is a secondary concern. A translation of this introduction is included at the article’s end.