Exile and Diaspora. Jewish Concepts of Dispersion

Abstract

The Jewish experience of Diaspora can be seen as a condensation of the diasporic condition. The present paper intends to illustrate this paradigmatic (albeit atypical) imprint of Diaspora, in processes subject to dynamic change, using two examples: (1) the place of the exile/return topic in religious and modern representations, moving from a center/periphery paradigm to one of circulation and mobility; (2) the confrontation between the Jewish traditional lexicon of Diaspora, which retained a traditional diasporic geography (Ashkenaz, Sefarad, Mizrah), dissociated from its territorial substratum, and real geography.