Non­fic­tion

Inter­mar­ried

  • From the Publisher
May 22, 2014

Fol­low­ing her award-win­ning mono­graph 5683 miles away, in which she con­sid­ered the mean­ing of nor­mal life in her home­land of Israel, in Inter­mar­ried Yael Ben-Zion fix­es her cam­era on anoth­er per­son­al but polit­i­cal­ly charged theme: intermarriage.

Ben-Zion ini­ti­at­ed the project in 2009 by con­tact­ing an online par­ent group in Wash­ing­ton Heights, her Man­hat­tan neigh­bor­hood, invit­ing cou­ples who define them­selves as mixed to par­tic­i­pate. As her own mar­riage is mixed, she was inter­est­ed in the many chal­lenges faced by cou­ples who choose to share their lives regard­less of their dif­fer­ent ori­gins, eth­nic­i­ties, races or religions.

Through lay­ered images and reveal­ing texts (includ­ing excerpts from a ques­tion­naire she asked her sub­jects to fill out), Ben-Zion con­structs a sub­tle, real­i­ty-based nar­ra­tive in which she explores and inter­prets the com­plex, mul­ti­fac­eted issues posed by intermarriage.

The book includes a fore­word by Amy Chua, an essay by Mau­rice Berg­er, and an after­word by Yael Ben-Zion. Designed by Jeanne Verdoux.

Discussion Questions