EP 77: Motherhood in Contemporary Arabic and Hebrew Literature and History

There is a consensus among the three monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—that the figure of the mother is sacred, perhaps second only to the figure of God Himself. This divine association of the mother makes it challenging, if not impossible, to capture the full depth of motherhood’s meaning. Yet, mothers are also grounded in reality; they belong to the earth and embody it, acting as originators and founders of human society. The first question this lecture poses is: in these dark times, marked by unfolding tragedies within Palestinian and Jewish-Israeli societies, how can we begin to talk about mothers as hybrid beings? Can Arabic and Hebrew—two ancient interlinked Semitic languages—bear the weight of current events without risking their own existence?