‘I’ve Never Been to the Theater:’ Cultural Preferences of ‘Russian’ Internet Generation in Israel
Volume 16, 2011 : The Emerging Second Generation of Immigrant Israelis
English abstract
‘I’ve Never Been to the Theater:’ Cultural Preferences of ‘Russian’ Internet Generation in Israel
Marina Niznik
Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies,
Tel-Aviv University
The paper presents the results of a survey conducted in 2008 that examined the cultural practices and preferences of ‘Russian’ youth in Israel. Data was collected via structured questionnaires (187) and semi-structured in-depth interviews (21). Respondents were aged 16-24 and represented both the youths born in Israel to immigrant parents and those who immigrated before age 12. The results suggest that the cultural integration of ‘Russian’ youth in Israel does not follow a linear process. There is a large group of youngsters who choose to preserve their mixed or Russian cultural identity (e.g. in social networking, music tastes, and entertainment) for reasons other than Hebrew language difficulties.
About the author
Marina Niznik
Marina Niznik, Ph.D. is Lecturer in the Russian Language and Research Associate at the Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies at Tel-Aviv University. Her research interests include Russian immigrant youth in Israel, especially their identity, cultural and linguistic practices.
