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Choosing One’s Life: Identity-swapping Plots in Popular Fiction by Israeli Haredi Women

ABSTRACT:The article discusses literature by ultra-Orthodox women in Israel that targets an adult ultra-Orthodox audience. In particular, it examines plots of “identity swapping” in haredi women’s fiction published by haredi publishers in Israel. This choice helps probe this corpus as a whole, as well as the methods that have shaped haredi identities in recent years in Israel. It argues that in texts written in the haredi community, even if the characters ultimately choose a religious identity, whether inborn or acquired, the very examination of the alternatives opened up during this period of indecision is as significant as the actual choice. As haredi authors are obligated to comply with the ideological and Halachic norms of their community, the choice of haredi identity at the end of the novel is almost imperative. Yet the opportunity to ponder this choice or to welcome possibilities inherent in other identities paves the way to a refreshed and more varied haredi identity. Looking closely at these dramatic moments and the choices characters made in their wake, it explores the relationship between community, identity, and identification as represented in this popular fiction.