Water Towers: A Study in the Cultural Geographies of Zionist Mythology

Abstract

This paper examines the figuring of water towers in Zionist mythology by focusing on three symbolic functions: the iconographic, the commemorative and the nostalgic. The icono-graphic function pertains to the iconic employment of water towers in pictorial depictions of the Zionist settlement landscapes. The commemorative function refers to the transformation of particular water towers into war memorials of Israel’s War of Independence. The nostalgic function relates to the valorization of defunct water towers as elements of local heritage and material symbols of local identity. Operative in different historical periods, political contexts and cultural settings, these symbolic functions pertained to particular Zionist myths and were productive in the ongoing formation of Zionist cultural geographies of modernity, tradition, memory and nostalgia.