"Every Jewish visitor" - language politics, archaeological display and cultural contestation in Mandate Palestine

Join us during the guest lecture by dr. Sarah Irving (Staffordshire University): "Every Jewish visitor" - language politics, archaeological display and cultural contestation in Mandate Palestine.

When the British mandatory administration in interwar Palestine committed itself to a system of three official languages – English, Arabic and Hebrew – it was making a promise that would prove logistically difficult to keep. Producing official materials in all three tongues demanded a translation effort that the colonial state was unwilling to properly resource. This proved particularly difficult to manage in public settings where the presence or absence of translated texts was especially noticeable. One such example was the Palestine Archaeological Museum, whose labels and guides were the subject of a targeted campaign by Hebrew language advocates who demanded that all museum literature was made available in comprehensive translations and asserted this as a legal right under the provisions by which Britain ruled Palestine.

This paper uses surviving letters from the Hebrew campaign and internal documents from the museum and the Department of Antiquities to highlight the complex dynamics of language politics, which was influenced not just by ideology and nationalism, but also by the inadequacies of British rule. Hebrew campaigners and museum officials are located within the febrile language politics of the mandatory period and issues of multilingualism, translation and identity within a setting where history and archaeology already made for an environment of cultural contestation.

There will be drinks in the Weberfoyer afterwards.

This event is organized by the Research Centre for Historical Studies (CHS).