“The World is There and We are Here:” “Otherness” and the Designation of Space in the Prose of Nava Semel

Nava Semel’s (1954-2017) fiction seeks to portray the oppression of “others” as part of a white male system that excludes those who are different by use of violent means, and the main depictive tool which Semel employs in her works is geographical space. Accordingly, she presents a variety of locations and affinities related to the oppression of “others” in alternating spaces— urban, peripheral, supervised and space-off. Due to the absence of a space where the “other” can hope to find autonomy, and since utopia is unrealizable, he or she is left with very few tools of survival. Some of these are solidarity with additional “others,” providing descriptive accounts—written or other—that perpetuate the marginally-perceived identity while granting it a genuine place, or the stark acceptance of one’s identity despite the painful price it exacts. In Nava Semel’s prose, the protagonists may visit or chance upon numerous places, their travels may appear to be potentially threatening (“Private Holocaust”), or as facilitating growth and reconciliation (Australian Wedding), or the leading character may appear to settle down and live a sheltered life (in Israel, for example, in the novel, And the Rat Laughed). Semel’s writings may focus on providing professional fulfillment or defying gender norms (a female candidate for the United States presidency in the novel, Isra Isle), or even on an opportunity to become familiar with the world of a beloved yet baffling family member (Isra Isle, third part, as well as Australian Wedding). In any case, setting out on a journey poses a challenge to the protagonist’s world as well as to the inhabitants of the space of his or her destination. This confrontation between the “other” and the hegemony, as presented in this article, is at the core of Semel’s prose