 | Demon in the box: Jews, Arabs, politics, and culture in the making of Israeli television What does a country's television programming say about its deep character, beliefs, dreams, and fears? In Demon in the Box , Tasha G. Oren recounts the volatile history of Israeli television and thereby reveals the history of the nation itself. Initially rejected as a corrupting influence on "the people of the book," television became the object of fantasies and anxieties that went to the heart of Israel's most pressing concerns: Arab-Israeli relations, immigration, and the forging of a modern Israeli culture. Television broadcasting was aimed toward external relations-the flow of messages across borders, Arab-Israeli conflict, and the shaping of public opinion worldwide-as much as it was toward internal needs and interests. Through archival research and analysis of public scandals and early programs, Oren traces Israeli television's transformation from a feared agent of decadence to a powerful national communication tool, and eventually, to a vastly popular entertainment medium. Tasha G. Oren is an assistant professor of film and media studies in the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. |
