The Double Standard in Modern Hebrew

Abstract: In this paper we analyze the social meanings associated with the new native vernacular (NNV) variety of Modern Hebrew as a complex positive stance, constructed via differentiation from its alternatives. NNV is reflexive, and it speaks for itself: for the authority of experience, as opposed to the traditional authority of the text. A speaker of NNV is necessarily an active agent in the propagation of the new collective and its values. We also explore the consolidation and dissemination of these values by cultural agents, focusing on a 1950s column by Dahn Ben Amotz, which presents snapshots of "everyday life" in multiple sites in Israel, as part of the modernist project of constructing a hegemonic folk identity. We show how variation in the use of spoken Hebrew, together with other tropes such as location and ethnic descent, are implicated in the construction of the new folk identity.