The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936

This article traces the history of Tel Aviv(-Jaffa)’s projection as a ‘cosmopolitan’ city. It defines cosmopolitanism and charts out different layers of meaning it has acquired over time, dividing these into ‘ethnonational,’ ‘imperial,’ and ‘post-national’ interpretations. Newspaper articles and arc...

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Main Author: Remer, Felicitas
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Karl Franzens-Universität Graz 2024-05-01
Series:Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal
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Online Access:https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubg:4-50323
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author Remer, Felicitas
author_facet Remer, Felicitas
author_sort Remer, Felicitas
collection DOAJ
description This article traces the history of Tel Aviv(-Jaffa)’s projection as a ‘cosmopolitan’ city. It defines cosmopolitanism and charts out different layers of meaning it has acquired over time, dividing these into ‘ethnonational,’ ‘imperial,’ and ‘post-national’ interpretations. Newspaper articles and archival documents are analyzed to demonstrate that Tel Avivs founders rejected cosmopolitanism in its ‘ethnonational’ interpretation. After the ‘Jaffa Riots’ (1921), however, the township’s leaders embraced an ‘imperial’ cosmopolitanism, positing it as worldly, globally integrated, and Western. The origins of Tel Aviv’s present image as a cosmopolitan city, sporting progress and participating in a globalized urban culture, reach back to these days. Yet today, for those who support ‘post-national’ and ‘post-colonial’ renderings of cosmopolitanism, Tel Aviv cannot be ‘cosmopolitan’ due to its exclusion of Jaffa’s Arabs. These debates shed light on Zionism’s complex historical relationship with (ethno)nationalism and colonialism and on Israel’s conflicted identity between the universal and the particular.
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spelling doaj-art-623f5fdb9fb34fe380e43851fda607e22025-08-20T03:26:33ZdeuKarl Franzens-Universität GrazMobile Culture Studies. The Journal2413-91812024-05-01Jahrgang (2024)Heft 8 (2024)538010.25364/08.08:2024.1.4AC17188456The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936Remer, FelicitasThis article traces the history of Tel Aviv(-Jaffa)’s projection as a ‘cosmopolitan’ city. It defines cosmopolitanism and charts out different layers of meaning it has acquired over time, dividing these into ‘ethnonational,’ ‘imperial,’ and ‘post-national’ interpretations. Newspaper articles and archival documents are analyzed to demonstrate that Tel Avivs founders rejected cosmopolitanism in its ‘ethnonational’ interpretation. After the ‘Jaffa Riots’ (1921), however, the township’s leaders embraced an ‘imperial’ cosmopolitanism, positing it as worldly, globally integrated, and Western. The origins of Tel Aviv’s present image as a cosmopolitan city, sporting progress and participating in a globalized urban culture, reach back to these days. Yet today, for those who support ‘post-national’ and ‘post-colonial’ renderings of cosmopolitanism, Tel Aviv cannot be ‘cosmopolitan’ due to its exclusion of Jaffa’s Arabs. These debates shed light on Zionism’s complex historical relationship with (ethno)nationalism and colonialism and on Israel’s conflicted identity between the universal and the particular.https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubg:4-50323cosmopolitanismnationalismimperialismcolonialismmigrationzionismantiemitismurban historytel aviv-jaffalevant fairjaffa riotsjaffa portglobalizationglobal intellectual history
spellingShingle Remer, Felicitas
The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936
Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal
cosmopolitanism
nationalism
imperialism
colonialism
migration
zionism
antiemitism
urban history
tel aviv-jaffa
levant fair
jaffa riots
jaffa port
globalization
global intellectual history
title The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936
title_full The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936
title_fullStr The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936
title_full_unstemmed The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936
title_short The Meanings of Cosmopolitanism in the ‘First Hebrew City’: Zionism, Migration, and Modern Metropolitan Culture in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, 1909-1936
title_sort meanings of cosmopolitanism in the first hebrew city zionism migration and modern metropolitan culture in tel aviv jaffa 1909 1936
topic cosmopolitanism
nationalism
imperialism
colonialism
migration
zionism
antiemitism
urban history
tel aviv-jaffa
levant fair
jaffa riots
jaffa port
globalization
global intellectual history
url https://resolver.obvsg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-ubg:4-50323
work_keys_str_mv AT remerfelicitas themeaningsofcosmopolitanisminthefirsthebrewcityzionismmigrationandmodernmetropolitancultureintelavivjaffa19091936
AT remerfelicitas meaningsofcosmopolitanisminthefirsthebrewcityzionismmigrationandmodernmetropolitancultureintelavivjaffa19091936