Yair Wallach wins the Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer book prize 2022

Dr Yair Wallach, Senior Lecturer in Israeli Studies, has won the Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer book prize 2022 for his book, ‘A City in Fragments: Urban Text in Modern Jerusalem’.

A City in Fragments tells the modern history of Jerusalem through its street-texts: the graffiti, logos, inscriptions, official signs, and ephemera that transformed the city over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As these urban texts became a tool in the service of capitalism, nationalism, and colonialism, the affinities of Arabic and Hebrew were forgotten and these sister-languages found themselves locked in a bitter war. Looking at the writing of—and literally on—Jerusalem, Wallach offers a creative and expansive history of the city, a fresh take on modern urban texts, and a new reading of the Israel/Palestine conflict through its material culture. 

In reaction to receiving the prize, Dr Yair Wallach said:  

“I am honoured to win this prize and I am grateful to SOAS and specifically my colleagues in the Languages, Cultures and Lingustics Department for their support.”