Dr. Asaf Saadon
A History of Political Correctness
A Conceptual History of Social Terms in Israel
Public Discourse and the Changing Meanings of Words and Expressions
Offensive Expressions, Insults, and Curses in Israeli Culture
Dehumanization in Israeli Public Discourse
Listen to the podcast:
"Who Are You Calling Autistic?" – On Political Correctness with Dr. Assaf Saadon
CV
Dr. Saadon explores the connections between modern Hebrew and Israeli culture from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating sociolinguistics, conceptual history, cultural studies, and performance studies. His research focuses primarily on offensive expressions, curses, and profanities, as well as the discourse surrounding them across different historical periods.
His doctoral dissertation, The Conflict of Political Correctness: The Transformation of a Global Practice into Local Cultural Capital, was written under the supervision of Prof. Hezki Shoham in the Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies program at Bar-Ilan University.
Between 2013 and 2023, he served as a lecturer in the Department of Culture, Creation, and Production at Sapir Academic College. His book, Once I Had a Heart (2016), was published by Yedioth Books, and his short stories have appeared in anthologies and literary journals. He is also the author of the column Bad Words in Haaretz's Culture & Literature section.
Research
Doctoral Dissertation:
The term “political correctness” has been present in Israeli culture since the late 1980s, but in the past decade, it has become a central point of public controversy. This research explores the discursive legality of the conflicts generated by political correctness in Israeli public discourse, analyzing the dynamics between speakers who use offensive expressions and those who condemn them. Through conceptual history and performative analysis, the study examines how expressions such as “homo,” “autistic,” and “kushi” have undergone discursive shifts, and identifies the conditions that enabled their redefinition. This analysis offers a framework for understanding the influence of political correctness on identities, narratives, and cultural discourse in Israel.
Dr. Saadon on his current research:
I am currently engaged in three research projects examining different aspects of discourse, identity, and social resilience.
One project investigates the perception of penetration anxieties in Israeli public discourse, focusing on fears related to the destabilization of cultural, national, and bodily boundaries. As part of this study, I examine the semantic and cultural differences between the Hebrew verb lezayen (to fuck) and the English term fuck, and how these reflect differing conceptions of power and control among Hebrew and English speakers.
Another project focuses on the concept of resilience and the ways it functions within Israeli political and social discourse. Paradoxically, the more prevalent the term “resilience” becomes in public discourse, the more its actual absence is revealed — the growing emphasis on it signals a sense of crisis and social instability.
The third project traces the conceptual history of the term Mizrahim (Jews of Middle Eastern and North African descent), following its evolutions in public and media discourse from the 19th and 20th centuries to the present day.
Together, these studies aim to deepen our understanding of identity and power discourse in Israel by combining methodologies from conceptual history, discourse analysis, and cultural studies.
Publications
Saadon A (forthcoming). The discursive role of the label ‘PC’: Analyzing changes in discriminatory language with the condemnation model. Discourse & Society, Vol. 36, Issue 5. https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265241271489
Saadon A (2024). (Human) Animals. Israel Studies in Language and Society, Vol. 19, pp 122-127. [Hebrew].
Saadon A (2017). Ben Zona as the Israeli equivalent of motherfucker. Israel Studies in Language and Society, Vol. 10, Issue 2, pp. 72-86. [Hebrew]
Media
“Why and When Are We Required to Be Politically Correct?” – Lecture
“I Think I’m Autistic”: The Problem of Dramatization in Political Correctness Discourse – Lecture
“Curses, Insults, and Political Correctness” – Video interview with Dr. Assaf Saadon
“They Are Human Beasts” – A text by Dr. Saadon published in Bechavvat Ha’adam
Beyond Academia
In addition to his academic work, Assaf Saadon is also a fiction writer. You’re invited to read about his debut novel:
Once, I Had a Heart
From the back cover:
This is not a nice book. It won’t appeal to everyone. It’s neither charming nor heartwarming. This is a story that defies good taste – subversive, original, disturbing, and unpredictable – about a man named Shlomi, who tries, struggles, and aspires to attain what everyone around him seems to achieve with ease: academic degrees, sex, loving women, and a promising future.
Once, I Had a Heart is a wild grotesque – both funny and unsettling – that powerfully wields radical storytelling to create countless parallel worlds to the one we thought we knew. Through the reading experience, it invites the reader to forge new thoughts and shoot sharp critical arrows at the social ills of an alienated and manipulative society that may speak in a thousand voices, but only in one language: the language of power.
“Thanks to this book, I now deeply understand what discrimination means.” – Haaretz
Last Updated Date : 07/04/2025
