Response to Joshua Blau's "Reflections on the Revival of Hebrew" / על "הרהורים על תחיית העברית": תגובה למאמרו של י' בלאו, "הרהורים על תחיית העברית", לשוננו סה (תשס"ג), עמ' 315—324

• Published in: לשוננו 2004-01, Vol.סו (ג/ד), p.395-404
• Main Authors: כוזר, רון, Kuzar, Ron
• Format: Article
• Language: Hebrew
• Subjects: Remarks and Replies / הערות ותגובות
• ISSN: 0334-3626

My critique of Joshua Blau's article (Lĕšonénu 65 [2003], pp. 315—324) takes issue with him on two levels: areas of legitimate disagreement and personal criticism. The first section explores our differences of opinion concerning the continuity vs. the discontinuity of classical and Israeli Hebrew; the status of "scientific fashions" vs. "schools of thought"; and the use of the term "revival" vs. "emergence", where the initial opinions are Blau's and the latter mine. It also examines Blau's allegation that I oppose the cultivation of the language of culture as opposed to my view that legitimizes both the cultivation of the language of culture and educated knowledge of one's native tongue, as well as the question of whether Rosen and Blanc were motivated by the slogan "leave your language alone" during the 1950s, or rather, as I see it, by a wish to systematically describe Israeli Hebrew. I take greater issue with Blau's harsh criticism of my work: his claims that I consider advocates of prescriptive policies toward Israeli Hebrew to be senile and outmoded, that my book Hebrew and Zionism: A Discourse Analytic Cultural Study is unscientific, and that I have a prejudice against the term "revival". Whereas there are legitimate areas of disagreement between us, I feel I cannot overlook these personal attacks on my academic reputation.