BOOKS
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French call them, "structures informatiques," are the real power ter–
minals for the future. Conversely, states that, though stretching over
wide territories rich in natural resources, are bound to their lands by
strong ideological, local, religious traditions, seem to be handi–
capped in their ability to adapt to change and modernity. Paradox–
ically, the Palestinians, whose loss of territory has weakened them
politically and militarily in relation to the territorial Arab and Israeli
states, are rapidly becoming technologically the most advanced and
culturally the most open Arab society of the Middle East, precisely
because of their transformation into a "space" nation.
It may be unrealistic and unfair to expect Israel to divest itself
of the territorial achievements and psychological complexes ab–
sorbed in forty years of recovered sovereignty . Yet, it would be
equally irresponsible and unjust not to take into account the fact that
Israel is probably one of the states most fit to adapt itself to, and thus
take advantage of, the opportunities and challenges of time and
space.
Siege and conflicts notwithstanding, O'Brien's and Benvenisti's
lucid appraisals of Israel's contradictions open many more pathways
of promise than they are ready to admit.
DAN
V. SEGRE
NEW GERMAN WRITING
RECENT WRITING IN THE GERMANIES, AUSTRIA, AND SWITZER·
LAND. By Peter Demetz. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. $27.95.
In the preface to Peter Demetz's useful but ultimately
disappointing survey of recent writing in German, the author states
that he is not interested "in writing a literary history in the older
tradition, rich in bibliographies and poor in value judgments." Un–
fortunately, despite his often noble assessments and compelling sub–
ject matter, he has done just that.
It
would be easy to forgive Demetz's failure at a task that from
the very outset would seem not only monumental but almost im–
possible: namely the formation of a clearheaded understanding of a
literature divided by four countries, two superpowers, numerous
