reading in the dark seamus deane sparknotes

This could simply be getting fired from one’s job without any future perspective.

In these instances, change is not wilfully acted upon. 3) Liminality, therefore, can be applied to processes of change, both personal and communal, that do not go hand in hand with ritualised processes leading either to success or failure (Thomassen 41). Liminality encapsulates in between situations characterised by “the dislocation of established structures, the reversal of hierarchies, and uncertainty about the continuity of tradition and future outcome.” (Horvath et al. Since the concept has been developed, it now not only refer to phases that can be navigated through by means of adhering to a specific set of rules, such as getting a degree and finding a job in order to become a contributing member of society for example. An example for a rite of passage is the process of graduating, which typically marks the point between being schooled and being employed, thereby entering the world of an adult and leaving that of the child behind.īut liminal experiences can also be perceived as confusing or precarious. In this sense, liminality is a period full of uncertainty that must be overcome successfully, usually by means of some kind of personal growth, or living through a set of experiences, in order to complete the transformation. The liminal step lies between disengaging from the customary world, posing a set of altering challenges before re-engaging (Aguirre 296). Mentioned first by Arnold van Gennep in 1909, it simply described rites of passages as a significant factor in (collective) cultural experience in which a person transitions from one social status to another (Thomassen 39-40).

It is a state of transition, transformation and ambiguity, where one state or identity has been left behind without having fully entered a new state or identity yet.

As an anthropologist concept, it refers to the relatively simple yet common condition of being in between or on the brink of two different places or phases (Thomassen 48). Liminality is defined as a “transitional or indeterminate state between culturally defined stages of a person's life” (OED).

Reading in the dark seamus deane sparknotes