Over the past eight years, an ASU librarian has compiled the largest collection of Israeli pulp fiction outside of Israel.
The IsraPulp collection, comprised of more than 350 magazine-style publications printed on brittle paper, is housed in the special collections area of Hayden Library.
Not only does the IsraPulp Collection house a variety of popular pulp fiction genres, but it offers a rare, concentrated look at Israeli pulp fiction in a series of subcultures, said Rachel Leket-Mor, an ASU librarian who specializes in religious studies, philosophy and Jewish studies
Leket-Mor began assembling the collection in 2004 through her contacts with collectors in Israel, assembling Israeli pulp fiction from the early 1930s to the present day. This collection is the only one of its kind in the U.S.
"The National Library of Israel has books like (those in the pulp fiction collection), but they were not collected as a research collection," Leket-Mor said. "Nobody meant to collect them; they arrived as other books that were published in Israel that arrived at the library."
The collection itself is unique and rare because its genre of books were not considered educational literature during its time, she said, but were considered disposable pieces of entertainment. It contains titles such as the popular Buk Jones series of the western genre, as well as “Bi-shelihut be-Moskvah” (“A Mission to Moscow”) of the spy genre.
"(Pulp fiction) is all literature, but it depends on how you define literature," she said. "It's not 'high-brow' literature by any means; it's popular (literature), and it was used for entertainment."
The genres of the collection vary from children's stories to westerns to spy stories, Leket-Mor said. Because of the entertainment-based nature of the literature, much of it was discouraged in its early publication days.
"(The pulp fiction could only be found) at kiosks and newspaper stands," she said. "So, in a way, they were banned, and the publishers (of pulp fiction) were not accepted into the publisher's association."
Pulp fiction introduced aspects of American culture into Israeli society, Leket-Mor said, as publishers translated American works like “Tarzan” into Israeli languages.
Though most pulp fiction booklets were not legally banned, one publication, which depicted violence from officers of a paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler, was required to be censored.
"One very specific genre is about American POWs subject to abuse by SS women in Nazi settings," she said. "So one of these books was banned by Israeli censor and was picked up from kiosks."
The research value behind the collection of pulp fiction has given it a culturally diverse place at ASU that offers a new perspective on Israeli subcultures, Leket-Mor said.
"It does contribute to Israeli studies, because anyone who would like to study Israel and the culture and the politics, in my opinion, should have a full picture," she said. "When you just collect materials that were authorized (by the establishment), you only hear the official voices."
The Israeliana collection in Hayden Library includes the IsraPulp collection, as well as other Israeli-based collections. These collections give research opportunities to Jewish studies programs.
Hava Samuelson, an ASU professor of history and director of the Center for Jewish Studies, emphasizes the importance of being open-minded to understanding Judaism as a culture and a people through the extensive research materials available in the Israeliana collection as a whole.
"The Israeliana collection includes scholarly books, journal articles, e-books, e-journals, CDs and DVDs," Samuelson said. "The material is written by Israeli studies scholars, as well as Judaic scholars."
Though the pieces of the IsraPulp collection have dwindled and become rare, the collection will continue to grow as more are discovered, Leket-Mor said.
"(In some other collections,) you can collect and collect and look forever, because there are so many materials, but here it's definite," Leket-Mor said. "There were a number of books that were published in that time in history, and I hope to get as many examples (as possible)."
The IsraPulp collection can be found in the Special Collections area of Hayden Library. Materials can be viewed in the Luhrs Reading Room.
Reach the reporter at dgrobmei@asu.edu
