ABSTRACT
In Psalm 137, the Hebrew Bible preserves one of the earliest recorded examples of diasporic literature, and one that has resonated across the ages as emblematic of the sense of loss, nostalgia and longing for the homeland of the diasporic subject:
By the rivers of Babylon
we sat and wept
at the memory of Zion. . .
How could we sing a song of Yahweh
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand wither!
May my tongue remain stuck to my palate
if I do not keep you in mind,
if I do not count Jerusalem
the greatest of my joys.
(Psalm 137)