Nourit Melcer-Padon was awarded a PhD summa cum laude from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her interests range from literary theory to socio-historical studies, with special focus on the ambiguous relationship between fiction and historical reality. She lives in Jerusalem where she is the chair of the English department at the Hadassah Academic College and has been pursuing a post-doctoral research of 17th century Livorno at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

How does historical reality interrelate with fiction? And how much are readers themselves involved in the workings of fictional literature? With innovative interpretations of various well-known texts, Nourit Melcer-Padon introduces the use of literary masks and illustrates literature's engagement of its readers' ethical judgement. She promotes a new perception of literary theory and of connections between thinkers such as Iser, Castoriadis, Sartre, Jung and Neumann. The book offers a unique view on the role of the community in post-existentialist modern cultural reality by emphasizing the importance of ritual practices in literature as a cultural manifestation.