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Modern Hebrew literature emerged during the nineteenth century as part of the Haskalah movement, which attempted to break from the traditional modes of Jewish intellectual and social life while also offering a new understanding of Judaism. The Hebrew literature that arose in this period embraced the rebellious nature of the Haskalah and is therefore commonly characterized as secular in nature, defying Orthodoxy and rejecting the old Hebrew God. Against this clear-cut distinction between religious and secular literature, this seminar will study the ways in which modern Hebrew literature has maintained a vital dialogue with the divine and the sacred. We will read and analyze prosefiction, poetry and publicist essays in order to track the various theological trends that were part of this self- declared secular national literature. The reading will include texts by Ahad Haam, Bialik, Shlonsky, Brenner, Agnon, Grinberg and Goldberg, as well as more contemporary writers like Amichai, Ravikovitch, Wallach, Behar and Pedaya. This course will be taught in Hebrew.