Land, Territory and Border: Liminality in Contemporary Israeli Literature

Abstract

Mendelson-Maoz explores the ways in which Intifada-era novels critique the blurred political borders set between Israel and Palestinian Occupied Territories and analyzes their concept of space and ethics. In Hebrew literary works from the 1990s to the 2000s whether focusing principally on Israeli soldiers’ experiences across the Green Line, or exploring Israeli society itself, the theme of space is tied to the concept of borders. In many of these works, the border implies a transition from one moral and psychological existence to another, creating a physical, psychological and moral rift. In this liminal zone, the civil identity is frozen, and another identity is resuscitated—one that obeys other laws, that accord with male stereotypes projecting roughness and aggression, often on the verge of emotional dissonance and madness. Most interestingly, the question of border and national space is illustrated aesthetically. The literary works offer poetic alternatives of presenting and dismantling the borders, often creating deterritorialization—not just of the liminal space of the Occupied Territories, but also of the entire national space and sovereignty.