The Enlightenment era saw European thinkers increasingly concerned with what it meant to be human. This collection of essays traces the concept of 'humanity' through revolutionary politics, feminist biography, portraiture, explorer narratives, libertine and Orientalist fiction, the philosophy of conversation and musicology.

This edited collection brings together discussions of literary works from Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian and Jewish Diasporas, as well as from authors not directly involved who are seeking to unpack the conflict's complexities for a wider audience. It offers new perspectives into how the Palestine/Israel conflict is, and can be, represented after the Second Palestinian Intifada, an epochal event for both Israelis and Palestinians.The collection foregrounds the thematic concerns that link literary engagements with Palestine/Israel across the globe but also...