2

Revisiting liminality
The danger of empty spaces
Bjorn Thomassent

Ner er befbre in the histolr of the rrorld hate uon-places occupied so nrttclr
space.

(Benko and Strohrnal er 1997: 23)

Introduction
Liminal spaces are attractive. They are the places we go to in search ol a break
lron the non.nal. They can be real places, parts ol a larger territory, or they can
be imagined or dreamed. Liminal landscapes are found at the fringes, at the
limits. I{owever, there is more to it than that. Had rve just been talking abor-rt the
peripheral, or the far-away, we would be dealing with marginality: that which is
the furthest away fiom the centre. Lirninal landscapes are in-between spaces.
Seasides anC beaches are arcl-retypical liminal landscapes. The seaside is something more than just the end of dry and inhabited land: it is a coast/ine with
something on the other side of the threshold. Limrnality implicates the existence
of a boundary, a limes, the Latin rvord for threshold lrom which the concept of
limitality derives. This limit is not sirnply there: it is there to be conlronted. The
ancierrt Creeks had tw'o words for the sea. Pelagos u,as the standard word used
to refer to the sea as a simple 'tAcL'. Pontos indicated something else: it was the
sea facing the human being, a trial to overcolne, a thresirold to pass, an open sea
to be clossed, a danger, a challenge. The etl,mology speaks to this, as ponlos'
belongs to a group of signilicant words rvith roots in Proto-Indo-European
(xpent)'to go, to pass; path, bridge', also related Io poteo'I step'. When asked
who were the most numerous, the living or the dead, Anacharsis (the sixth
centrlry BC Scythian sage) is supposed to have retorted, 'u,here. do vou plrce
those who are sailing the seas?' (as quotcd in Endsjo, 2000: 370).
Thc Clccks kncrr rerl rrell that the rniddle stage in a ritual passage had its
orvn spatial reality. The Atheniat epltebes (neopliytes) were sent out Lo the
LincLLlLivaLcd mountainsides to have their civic statr-rs altered in a rite of passage.
Mythology confirmed geography: the adolescent Odysseus rvas sent to the
nountain slopes of Parnassus to undergo his rite of passagc to manhood. with
Autoly,cus, his materr.ral grandf-ather, acting as ceremony rnaster (Endsjo

22

B. Thomassen

2000: 358). The Ndembu that Tumer studied for so many years also knew their
liminal geography. When the neophl4es were thrown into the ritual passage, this
happened initially by a spatial separation from their village as the ceremony
master took them into the wildemess, and brought them to a sacred site where
they were subjected to a series of tests and personality transforming ordeals.
For a variety of Stone Age peoples caves almost surely functioned as spaces
of liminality (Bamatt and Edmonds 2002). Caves were certainly used for funerary and ritual purposes in the majority of Neolithic cultures. Upper Paleolithic
and Neolithic caves typically took the shape of dangerous passage ways, quite
literally. It is likely that these passage-type caves represented passages to another
world: the world of the gods or/and the world of the dead. 'Caves have been, in
many cultures, crucial liminal spaces where shamanistic ekstases occurred,
bringing humans into contact with the spirits or the beyond. For the Maya, caves
were the entrances to the underworld, not pyramids. It is now a well-accepted
hypothesis that cave paintings, such as the famous ones at Lascaux, must be
interpreted as being part olritual passages and actual liminal experiences.
Liminal spaces are evidently part of any culture. The purpose of this chapter
is to open up a question: what is happening to liminal spaces in contemporary,
'Western' and 'modem' societies? Such a question is much too big to be
addressed, let alone answered, in a single chapter. Rather than answering the
question, the aim will be to search for a meaningful formulation of the problem.
My discussion will deparl from a short introduction to the concept of liminality
via Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner. A typology of liminal experiences
will be presented, followed by a discussion of current applications of the liminality concept which will end on a warning note: that the very dominant tendency in postmodern and poststructuralist literature to take a celebratory stance
toward the 'interstitial' is a critical development that does not really enable our
analysis of ii-niinatity and that does not, ultimately, pay respect to the original
analysis offered by van Gennep. I argue that Victor Tutrter's proposal to see the
modern world as 'liminoid' is not the best starting point in our attempts to
capture the role of liminal space in the world of today. While it is to the merit of
Victor Turner that we can think with liminality, in taking up the concept of liminality today we have to step carefully. This is especially the cas-e as the term is
ilcreasrngly used to talk about almost 6nything. I will instead argue that Turner's own observation that liminal states may at times become institutionalized
provides a key toward understanding both temporal and spatial liminality in
modemity. In this context, the work of the contemporary social theorist, Arpad
Szakolczai,

will be discussed.

pub!r!,[e_{ 1n !9

meaningful clas
mark the passa

from those wh

year), whereuP
the order of ce
any societY, va
sisting of three
rites of incorPc
liminal p?ii?g.
rites of incorPc
sal: all societie
The univers

pological ciair
good reasons

tr

would becomt
Gennep was n
the Durkhemi
approach (for
It was Vict,

his fieldwork,

(Turner

1985:

almost by cha
in a liminal st

waiting for hi
armed militan

at Hastings ol
1985: 7). Tun
Turner exPeri

reading inspir
Liminal Peno
The Forest o,
1964. This w<

In his ana
ritual

passagt

make-up, and
order. Van G

Turner: 'soci
Van GenneP'

The history of a concept: from Arnold van Gennep to Victor

alist paradign

Turner
The concept of liminality is today experiencing a revival. This revival takes
place 100 years after the concept was introduced by the French anthropologist,
Arnold van Gennep, in an indeed remarkable book, Zes Rites de Passage,

Types of

lir

In Tumer's c
or object. Th

Revisitingliminality

years also knew their

into the ritual passage, this

village as the ceremony
to a sacred site where
transforming ordeals.

y flmctioned as spaces
certainly used for funer_
hres. Upper paleolithic
passage ways, quite
,nrec passages to another
r

rao.

*--

lLaves \have been. in

ekstases occurred,
rd. For the Maya, caves

ls now a weil-accepted
rs at Lascaux, must be
inal experiences.
puryose of this chapter
spaces

ul

_c,ontemporarv.

is much too 'uid io.-Sd

rer than answering the

ulation of the problem.

e concept of liminalitv

of liminal

d the importance of liminality.

During
Gennep via the work of
Henri Junoi

experien.es

ications of the limivery dominant tend_

a celebratory stance

not really enable our

respect to the original
s proposal to see the

int in our attempts to

ile it is to the merit of
up the

.fu.--,_ concept of limime case as the term is

argue

it6:Tum- -

institutionalized

spatial liminalify in
social theorist, Arpad

to Victor
This revival

takes

ch anthropolggist,

Rites de passage,

Types of liminality
In Tumer's own words. liminality
refers ro any
ojgbjecr' This undersranaine
..b.etwixr and betweeql situariop
opJnr;i".o"irto'.
uses of rhe concelt beyond

23

24

B. Thomassen

Turner's own suggestions. Single moments, longer periods, or even whole

epochs can be considered liminal. Liminality can also be applied to both single

individuals and to larger groups (cohorls or villages), or whole societies, or

maybe even civilizations. As I have previously suggested (Thomassen 2009),
experiences of liminality can be related to three different Iypes of subjecthood..

1
2
3

single individuals
social groups (e.g. cohorts, minorities)
whole societies, entire populations, maybe even 'civilizations'

The temporal dimension of liminality can relate to:

1
2
3

moments (sudden events)

periods (weeks, months, or possibly years)

epochs (decades, generations, arguably even centuries)

These different dimensions can function together in a variety of combinations as

indicated in this model:

Model 1. Types of liminul experiences: temporal dimensions

It should, of course, be stressed that these are analytical distinctions of a somewhat arbitrary nature. There is no definitive way of distinguishing 'moments'
from 'periods', and the dimensions invoked could also be thought of as a continuum. Moreover, while this scheme identifies types of liminal experience, it by
no means follows that all these experiences are demarcated with a transition rite
- at least not the same kind of clearly recognizable and institutionalized rites
with identiflable ceremony masters, as studied in the work of van Gennep.

tr

.?

o
E

Dimensions of spatial liminality

Applications of the concept of liminality have arguably privileged the temporal
dimension. This is so despite the fact that van Gennep started his own analysis
of ritual passages with a full chapter on 'the territorial passage', the title of
Chapter II which followed immediately upon his initial classification of rites.
Van Gennep clearly saw territorial border zones or border lines, thresholds or
portals, as structurally identical with the intermediate period of a ritual passage:
spatial and geographical progression correlates with the ritual marking of a cultural passage. Moreover, van Gennep even indicated that perhaps the physical
passage of a threshold somehow pre ceded the rites that demarcate a symbolic or
'spiritual' passage: 'A rite of spatial passage has become a rite of spiritual
passage' (van Gennep 1960:22).
Van Gennep discussed in this context both concrete thresholds such as porlals
or doorways, but he also included demarcations ol tribal societies, villages and

towns, and neutral zones belween countries and larger civilizations. In other

G
oE

o
a

o
O
O

xO
ad

tr
.E

a
o

o
F

q)

B
F-

lger periodsr or even whole

also be applied to both single
lges). or whole societies. or
uggested (Thomassen 2009),
ierent tvpes of subjecthoocl:

t 'civilizations

it!
(J

-c

ntlrries

a Variety

ol combinations

aas

=a

d:
v!

-=

c .tt -^

metlsions

t;

tical distinctions of

lf

^=')

a some-

distinguishing'noments!
so be tltousltt ol us a contin-

se

of lirlinal experience, itby

arcated with a transition rile
le and institutionalized rites
work of van Gennep.

EL J

::

iJ

--Y
r'.

'vo
=
O
E
-o
d

tbly priviieged the temporal

lep statled his own ancl)sis
lolial passage', the title of

ritial classification of

ntes.

border lines, thresholds or

) period of a ritual passage:
the litual marking of a culJ that perhaps the physical
Lat

cE

t;

O
O

'-=O
a
o

=c
'=

denrarcate a s),lxbolic or

becone a rite of

spiritual

c
_, c

!
thresholds such as portals
'ibal socicties, villages and
e

rgcr civilizations. In other

Lf

C
O

-a

-a

t-

EJ

'o

o
'tr
D

c=

?v

ljl

26

B. Thontassen

words, liminal places can be specrfic thresholds: they can also be more extended
areas, like 'borderlands' or, arguably, whole countries, placed in important inbetween positions between larger civilizations. Staying with the above threefold
classification, I suggest that the spatial dimensions of liminality can relate to:

1
2

paradox, a

sc

would be

pr

mmlgrants.
specific places, thresholds (a doorway in a house, a rine that separates holy
from sacred in a ritual, specific objects, in-between items in a classification
scheme, parls/openings of the human body)
areas or zones (border areas between nations, monasteries, prisons, sea
resorls. airporrs.;

Turner: 'The

physical but

countries or larger regions, continents (meso-potamia, rnedi-terranean;

Ancient Palestine, jn between Mesopotamia and Egypt; Ionia in Ancient
Greece, in between the Near East and Eur-ope).

In introducing this third dimension I am

perhaps going beyond van Gennep,s

own suggestions. But there are strong grounds to suggest that even Karl Jaspers,
famous theory of the axial age can be meaningfully understood with the notion
of liminality (T
Karl Jaspers' description ol the axial age at
places used a vo
almost identical to the one originally proposed
by van Gennep.
the axial age as an in-between pedod betu,een

two structured world-views and between two rounds of empire building

(1953: 5l); it r,vas an age of crcativity r,vherc'rnan asks radical questions,, and
where the 'unquestioned grasp on life is loosened' (ibid.: 3); it was an age of
urcertainty and contingency: an age where old cerlainties had lost their validity
and where new ones were stil1 not ready. It was a period where individuals rose
to the test and new leadership figures emerged. In paiticular, the axial age gave
birth to a new sub-stratum ol persons: 'flree-standing' intellectuals; these were

To write
strategy in

u'riting. For
hybridity. In
resent an inte

possibility I
or imposed h
a

embraced in

here is to po
write and re
understandinl

liminoid.
While recr
should hesita

to re-address
toward an un

In his ethnol
tribal or'mor
had relevanc
empirical

ap1

In a famr

ln

and Tndia (Thomassen 2010).

Thinking with liminality: words of caution

In contemporary literature liminality is being applied to a growing number of

sub-fields. In anthropology, the liminal has in recent decades been connected to

the widespread notions of fluid or hybrid ctLrture (Gupta and perguson 1992).
Liminality is productively adopted by a growing number of scholars within

comp
experlen
replaced
ar1 and 1r
In l.ris w,
age shar
distance

leading

The suggesti,
on anthropol

would draw

tourlsm as el
conditional',
1980s and

19

through a

pe

ance' were a
sorls of elabr

Revisiting

to
Tut.ner: 'Tlre neophytes are Sometlmes said

liminali6:

21

..be in atlother place',. They have

to be hidden' silce it is a
physical but not soclal reatiry, hence they have
be there' (Tumer' 1967: 97)' This
paradox, a scandal, to ,tt *tluiougl.rt not to
stateless people or illegal
woulci be particular-ly evident fJt gtoup' like

: mofe extended

in imporlant inabove threefold

;an relate to:

immigrants.

Towritefromtheinterstices,fromthein-between'canberecoguizedasa

rt separates holY
n a classification

ies, prisons,

strategy

much

hybridity. In much

sea

resent an interstitia
a cultural hybriclity that e
and in a very ge
hierarchy,
or in.rposed
cultural studies
literature,
in
embraced
liminali
asserl
positively
to
is
here
and
otherness
represent
and
rvrite
a contlnnatlon
are
liminalitl'
of
understandings

mecli-ten'ancan:

lonia rn Ancicnt

nd van GenneP's
ven Kat'l JasPers'
d with the notion

: the axial age at

:igrnal11, proPosed

:n period betr.r'een
empire building

al cluestiotis',

in

writing. For Homi

and

, it was an age of

lost their validitY

:e indrvidttals rose
the arral agc gave

ctuals; these were

possibility tbr

liminoid.
Wirile recognizing the importance of
(a
should hesitate to simpll' follor'v him

to re-acldress the question: tlow exactly

toward an underslanding ol social' cuitlr
In his ethnographic accorttlts, Tulncr r
tribal or 'modern' societies, clearly sen

had r-elevance far beyond the specific

two concrete suggesttons:
empirical application, Tnlrer provided

:diterranean. China

In a famous

itr

nal11', 6n,1 imPofis, the axial 'lcaPs'

, in lirninal p)accs:
Itres btlt exactlY at

olVictor Tumer's u'ork otr the

comPat'a

experiences
replaced bY
art and leisure activities'
In his rvork on the

(1978)' Tumer argued that pilgrim-

agesharesaspectsparticipantsbecomee.qlral.asthey
uctures ancl theil social identities'
distance then-rselv
ol conrrnttnitas
and a strong sense
leading to a hotlogenization of status

gowing number of
been cotrnected to

id Fergr"rson 1992).
of scholars within

Lirninality is

also

ualiry, or any lorm

ilson 2002) Minot-

, positions.

Certaitr

es as described

bY

'

The sLrggestions proposed in 'I-iminal

on anthropology and neighbouring di
would draw inspiration fiom Tumer t
tourism as examples of the iiminoid'
conditional', the playful' Tumer bec
went
the wider social and human sciences
1980s and l SS0s, a' u;it-"opotogy and
formon process'
through a pertbrmativt tttin *itt-' a focus
to all
so his work
Tumer'
ance' were always cmcial terms to
his
of
The trvo easily m
sorls of eiaborations in that direction'

28

B. Thomassen

work were exactly the ones that becan'ie 'codifled' and that are now dominating
academic and popular discourses on liminality.
First, the understanding of the liminal as relating in modem society primarily
to aft and leisure sidelines some of the clearly dangerous orproblematic aspects
of liminality. It is not irrelevant that Turner's ideas first started to spread around
1968, and then became more widely known and used with the postmodemist
tum of the 1980s. Turner's (albeit hesitant) self-identification with the postmoder-nist turn cerlainly opened up a space lor a usage of the term that he would,
or should. lrave ra amed agairrsl.
Second, in his atterrpt to tum liminality into a more applicable term for
modem consumer societies, Turner distinguished between 'symbolic systems

and genres which developed belore and after the Industrial Revolution'
(1982: 30). While in itself a tnuch oversimplified dichotomy, the problem is also
that in contrast to liminal experiences. liminoid experiences are optional and do
not involve a resohrtion of a personal crisis or a change of status. The liminoid is
a break from nonrality. a playftrl as-ifexperience, but it loses the kev feature of

lirninality: t rct n.s i t i ct n

I would like to bc t ery explicit here: I do not think that Tumer's notion of the
liminoid is an analltical step forwards. The notion olthe liminoid has allowed
for an indiscriminatc application of liminality. On that account I suggest that we
ought to be siightly conservative and return to the stafiing point of van Germep:
liminality has to do with transition, the ritual lorms such transitions take, and the
way in which transitions shape both persons and communities. This, however,
does not mean that all transitions go srnoothly. They do in lact not. And it is here
that Tlrmer's less discussed work on pilgrimage may in fact blaze the trail for us
in a much more meaningful direction. Tumer here caught a crucial mechanism
involved in the liminal process: the ternporal and spatial fixation of liminal conditions. It was this insight that brought thc social theor-ist, Arpad Szakolczai, to
diagnose modemity as a peculiar fonn of 'permanent liminality'.
-

The fixation of spatial and temporal liminality

Turner introduced this idea referring to a situation in which the suspended character of social life evidently takes on a more permanent character'(Turner 1978).
The pilgrimage is an emblematic case of lirninality because it so evidently represents both a spatial and temporal (and moral/social) separation from the ordinary. This was much in line with what Tumer himself had suggested earlier,
namely that in the rronastic and mendicant states olthe world religions, transition had become a pernanent condition (1969: 107). Here again, however, wc
have to be more than cautious about Tumer's very positive description of liminality and the creative energies released in liminal spaces. Evidently, the fixation
or pennanentization of lin,inal conditions somehow relate to the disciplinary
mechanisms of modern society. As argued by Szakolczai (2000, 2003), in order
to grasp this cormection the work ol Turrrer must be brought into contact with
social and political theory.

Turnet was

with his insight

had

suggested

'everydayinizat
world religions
what Weber tcr
relations offere

jectory based

the monastic

w}rat Weber ter

style and the ar
of the monaste
to the wider so,
asterles were c

and highly (sel

life style of tli,
represented the
The concret
be stressed her

rvhile focusing
and his analysi
came to shape
works ofPonca

institutions (tht

somehow had c
creation of mor
manentized is c

tion of

charisn

social process,
glous movelnel
lirninality' in rt
At one leve

that make up

have been creat

permanent. Wl
liminality' is aJ

forms that can

ture, Szakolcza
nality, criticallr
becomes a peu
aration, limina
parlicular lram

nent liminality
from the worlr
roles in an endl

Revisiting

Id that are no."v doninating

r modem society prirlarily

ous or problernatic aspects
st started to spread around
:d with the postrnodemist

:ntincalion wirh rhc posr_

of the rernr that he would.

lore

liminality

unbeknowns
s attempt to di

1978) that t
the 'ertra-ord
world religions somehow problernati
what Weber.tenled the ,religious
rej
relations offered to Weber
a ctue to

applicable tenn for

lween'synrbolic systems
e Industrial Revolution,

tomir. the problem is also

)nces are optional and do
of status. The liminoid is
it ioses the ke1,, fbature ol
rat Turner's notion of the
l-re liminoid has allowed

rccount I suggest that we

ng point ofvan Gennep:

transitions take, and the

lunltles. This, however,

n lact not. And it is here
bct blaze the trail for us
ht a cruciai rnechanisrn

cal1le

works
institu
someh

fixation of linrinal con_

Arpad Szakolczai. to

rt.

na lit1,'.

ch the suspended char_

raracter (Turner I 97g).

rt so evidently repre_
aration frorn the ordi_
re

had suggested earlier,

world religions, trans_
:e again, however, wc

'e description of limi_

ividently, the fixation
:e

to the disciplinarl

2000, 2003), in ordel

ght into contact with

g agaln van Gennep,s tripartite

struc_

ere arc three types of perntanent

limi_

of the riles olpassage. ,Liminality

thephases in this sequence
fof sep_
es frozen, as il a film stopped
at

29

30

B. Thoma.s.sen

stuck in the final stage of a ritual passage). The two first suggestions build on
insights by Tumer himself, Weber (and his study of the Protestant ethic) and
Elias (and his study of courl culture). The understanding of communism as a
specific 'third stage' type of pemanent liminality can be sustained by pointing
to the fact that 'communism was a regime in which the Second World War never
ended' (Ibid.: 223). Rather than healing the wounds and looking to the future,
communist regimes sustained themselves by playing continuously on the senti
ments of revenge, hatred and suffering, preventing the settling down of negative
emotions (see also Horvath 1998).
In other words, without a proper re-integration, liminality is pure danger. The
even larger claim made by Szakoiczai was that modemity is itself a kind of permanent liminality: a continuous testing, a constant search for self-overcoming.
an incessant breaking down oftraditional boundaries, and an existential sense of
alienation and loss of being-at-home that in the modem episteme establishes
itself as normality.

Permanent liminality and the modern world

The contemporary scene seems to be characterizedby an increasingly ambivalent attitude toward liminality: on the one hand a fear of liminal experiences as
truly personality transforming events; on the other hand a celebratory stance
towards any kind of liminality. On the one hand, and as stressed very much by
Foucault, the modern world was always characterized by closing off everything
that lay beyond the boundaries of rationality. This hallmark of modernity as
excluding limit experiences was perhaps expressed most clearly by Kant. On the
other hand it has also been argued, by a series of thinkers, writers and artists,
that the modem world is somehow a 'carnival', a grotesque,2 never-ending
comedy, where limit experiences turn into nonn, a frenzy that never really cools
down (Thomassen 20 1 2a).
The diagnostic effort by Szakolczai suggests that the modern episteme
somehow represents a temporal permanentization of liminal conditions that at a
given moment 'freeze' and tum into structure. But this temporal fixation of
liminal conditions is paralleled by a spatial dynamic; it is increasingly evident
that the modem world is characterized by a constant proliferation of empty
spaces or non-spaces, a movement whereby the liminal becomes central and
establishes itself as normality (Aug6 1995). Surprisingly enough, this danger was
signaled with great clarity by Plato (1995), in his discussion of the Khora in
Timaeus. The question relates to one of Plato's main concems in his later writings, namely the productive powers of nothingness, and how non-being tums
into being. Here Plato reluctantly had to go beyond Parmenides, who had always
insisted that nothing can grow out of nothing, and that one should therefore not
talk about nothingness. Evidently Plato sensed that the end of the classical world
critically had to do with exactly such a proliferation of non-space - a space in
which the Sophist thrives. Khora is a void, an abyss, in which things can reproduce themselves infinitely, it 're-flects' like a mirror that is not affected by the

image it
the numt
the Khor
Westem

threat to
himself a
The

te

structure!

sion of
between

spatiality
and

politi

tial whil<
that, far
actually

pointed c
'experier

search fo
around tl
mechanic

point or

liise their
lmprlsonr

By sin

beyond n
that very
anes, or,

sion'. Th
rntimatel'
em wrlte

tude that
effective
experren(

back intt
world. It
home

so,

was cefta
introduce

czai 200t
nality tha

can be ur
We need

Revisiting
first suggestions build on
the Protestant ethic) and

liminality

31

ing of communism as a
be sustained by pointing
Second World War never
and looking to the future,
continuously on the sentisettling down of negative

$lity

is pure daqg_er. The

ity is itself a kind of perh for self-overcoming,

of

and an existential sense

episteme establishes

an increasingly ambiva-

of liminal experiences

a celebratory

as

stance

as stressed very much by

by closins off eveMhins

allmark of modernity as
clearly by Kant. On the
writers and artists,
grotesque,2 never-ending

that never really cools

the modern

episteme

inal conditions that at a

lis temporal fixation of--

it is increasingly

evident

proliferation of empty

I becomes central

and

enough, this danger was

ion of the Khora in

in his later writ-

how non-being turns

ides, who had always
one should therefore not

of the classical world

non-spac9-aspacem
which things can reprois not affected by the

L&

32

B. Thomassen

Conclusion: on being-at-home in a meaningful world

This chapter has attempted to open a debate on how we think and live with liminality today. The tendency in the reception and application of liminality in the
social and cultural sciences, in art and performance is that liminality represents
an unordered, chaotic element of creativity and freedom in a modern world that
was drowning with (Kantian) rationality. It is particularly clear that many writers
see liminality as fitting within a larger framework of social constructivism, or as
resonating with poststructuralist theories, positing themselves against more
structural or nominalist philosophies or world-views. There are, however, strong
grounds to reject this reception. Social constructivism developed as a paradigm
in order to stress human agency in the meaningful construction of the'World',
positing itself as an alternative to more dominant rationalist-positivist scientific
views, as rational choice theory in political science or Realism in Intemational
Relations. What is rarely recognized is the extent to which rational choice theory
and social constructivism share a foundational epistemology: namely that the
world itself is essentially unordered, and that human beings impose their oider
lipon ii via their (rational or not) choices, id-e-as and acts. Rationalism and social
cijnstructivism alike predicate upo-na piior distancing to the world. They thus
perpetuate a kind of epistemic homelessness which goes to the heart of modern

thinking.
Turner's work can instead be pushed in a different direction, and to some
extent this direction had indeed been indicated by van Gennep himself, and was
taken up by Tumer in his later work. Tumer realized that liminality served not
only to identifu the importance of in-between periods, but also to understand the
tiuman reactions to liminal experiences: the way in which personality was
shaped by liminality, the sudden foregrounding of agency, and the sometimes
dramatic tying together of thought and experience. Turner saw the parallels
between his own project and the philosophy of Dilthey for this reason (see for
example Turner 1982:12 19; 1988: 84-91). This was indeed an important and
momentous intellectual encounter, made late in Turner's life (Szakolczai
2004: 69-'72). The recognition made by Tumer was quite simply that experiences are in a formal sense ordered sequences. This of course does not mean that
liminality is simply structure and order - to make such a claim would be mean-

ingless: liminal spaces and moments are indeed characterized by contingency

and uncertainty. However, liminal experiences do have a 'form' ot arecognizable 'pattern'. It is important to stress that van Gennep did not really launch a
theory of ritual, as much as he claimed to have detected the underlying patterns
in rites. Where Durkheim established a priori categories as the units of his taxonomy, van Gennep inferredthese units from the tripartite structure of the cere-

Nature must
meaningfullY

which we, h
group or fron
said (1960: 3
that ties our
6y a-periodit

itions, move
Gennep retut
to the beautil

FinaliY,
linked tt
of the r
human
scientifi

Here again t
very stark: 1
created socil

Gennep's cl

in Plato's

Ii

the beautY

rationally.'l
verse is not
these uPon

ency was

e.

nature of n
on this plar

the beautY
unlverse.

Notes
1 This

chaP

sium on'
pool, JulY
'The Uset
issue dedi

The word

monies themselves.

Gennep's framework even one step further

here - and a further step away from any social constructivist interpretation that
invariably will end up stressing the freedom of human creativity: for van Gennep
the basic fact of transition did indeed somehow tie the human being to nature.

I think it is possible to take van

Referenc

Andrews, H
the Finni

Revisiting

orld
lhink and live with limi-

tion of liminality in the

rat liminalily represents
in a modern world that
r clear that many

writers

ial constructivism, or

as

gmselves against more

ere are, however, strong
eveloped as a paradigm

direction, and to some

ennep hirnself, and was
at liminality served not
t also to understand the

which personality was

Lcy, and the sometimes
lmer saw the parallels
for this reason (see for
tdeed an important and
ner's 1if'e (Szakolczai

Jte simply that experiurse does not mean that

clairn would be meanlerized by contingency

'fonn' or a recognizalid not really launch a

:he underlying patterns

as the units of his taxstructure of the cere-

:e

33

Nature must here be understood in the best ol Hellenic-classical traditions as a

meaningfully ordered cosmos, an animated universe, rather than a chaos upon
which we, human beings. must itnpose our order. Transitions from group to
group or from one social situationto the next are a'fact of society', van Gennep
said (1960: 3). However, for van Gennep transitions are also a 'fact of existence'
that ties our individual and social life to nature: 'The universe itself is governed
by a periodicity which has repercLtssions on human life, with stages and transitions, movements forward, and periods ol relative inactivity' (ibid.: 3). Van
Gennep retunled to the parallel to nature in the conclusion where it inspired him
to the beautiful and signifi.cant closure of the book:

truction of the 'World',

alist-positivist scientifi c
{ealism in Intemational
rh rational choice theory
ology: namely that rhe
ings impose their order
Rationalism and social
o the world. They thus
to the hearl of modem

liminality

Finally, the series of human transitions has, among some peoples,

been

linked to the celestial passages, the revolutions ofthe planets, and the phases
of the moon. It is indeed a cosmic conception that relates the stages of
human existence to those of plant and animal life and, by a sorl of prescientific divination, joins them to the great rhythms of the universe.

(ibid.:

194)

Here again the contrast to Durkheim (and contemporary social constructivism) is

very stark: for Durkheim human beings bestow order on nature from their selfcreated social order, a clearly neo-kantianposition. The style and content of Van
Gennep's closing paragraph much rnore closely resembles the cosmology found
jn Plato's Timeu.s, the work in which Plato most clearly posits the recognition ol
the beauty and order of the natural world as the condition for living and thinking
rationally. This can also be said differently: the role of hnman beings in the universe is not to erect order, create schemes, concepts and rnodels and then irnpose
these r.rpon an unstructured chaos, to 'build the world' from scratch. This tendency was exactly what Eric Voegelin would come to recognize as the Gnostic
nature of rnodemity (Thomassen 2012b). Instead, our role in this universe and
on this planet - the only one we have - should rather be to humbly 'tune in' to
the beauty of the world. Or, as van Gennep said, join the great hymns of the
unlverse.

Notes
1 This chapter is a revised version of a confereuce paper fir'st presented at the Symposium on'Liminal landscapes: r'e-mapping the field', John Moores University, Liverpool, July 2010. Parts ofthe chapter are elaborations ofa previously published article,
'The Uses and Meanings of Liminality' (Thomassen 2009) which appeared in a special
isstre dedicated

to liminalitl in International Political Anthropology.

The u ord comes from 'grotto', e g. ca\;e.

: even one step further

ivist interpretation that

References

ativity: for van Gennep

turman being to nature.

Andrews,H.(2009)'Tourismasa"momentofbeing"'.SuomenAntropologi
the Finnish Anthropological Society,3aQ):

21

JottrnaL

of

31

B. Thomassen

M. (1995) Non-places Introduction to an anthropology- o/ supermoclerr.ity,

London: Velso.
Bamatt, J and E.dmonds, M. (2002) 'places apart? caves and Monuments in Neolithic
and F,arl
Britain',
Archaeological Journal, l2(l ): I 13 129.
Benko, G.
ce ancl Social Theory. Interpreting Motler, U. (eds
nily and
Oxfbrd:
Bhabha. H ( 1 991) The Loccttion of CtLlnre, London: Routledge.
Durkheinr, F.. (1961) The Elementary Fornt.; of Religious Life,Neu,york : Free Press.
Augd,

D. (2000) 'To lock up Eleusis. A question of liminal space'. Numen,

47:351-386.
Giesen, B (2009) 'The three projects of modernity', International pol iticat Anthropol_
ogy, 2(2): 239-250
Endsjo,

Gupta, A. and Fergusor.r, J. (1992)'Beyond culture: Space, I<lentity and the politics
of
d ifference', C ul tu r al Anr fu op o / o gy, 1 (I'): 6-23.
Horvath, A (1998) 'Tlicking into the position of the outcast: A case Study in the Emer_
gence and Effects of Comnrunisr power, , political psltchologl;, 19(2): 331_347.
Jaspers, K. (1953) The origin and Goal of History, Nerv Haven and London: yale
Uni_
versiry Press.
Malks6o, M. (2010) 'The challenge of liminality for international Relations Theory,,
paper pr:esented at the annual nreeting of the 'Theory vs. policy'l connectilg
Scholars
and Plactitioners', New Orleans, 17 Fcbruary 2010.
Plato (1995) Timeo,Tradtzio'e di F. Acri, Milano: principato Eclitore
Szakolczai, A. (2000)
/r.rg;, London: RoLrtleclge.
Szakolczai. A. (2003)
, Lonclon: Routledge.
Szakolczai, A. (2004)
Theoria, l03: 59 g7.
Szakolczai, A. (2008) 'citizenship and Home: political Alegiance and its Backgrorlnd',
Inter nati o na I P o / it i c al A n tht. op o I o gy. I I ): 51 j 6
Thomassen, B. (2009) 'The Uses and Meanings of Liminality., International
P olitical
Anthr opology-, 2(1):

27

(2010) 'Anthropology, Multiple Moclemities and the Axial Age Debate',

Anthr opol ogic a / Th e or1,, I0(4 ): 321 -342.
Thomassen, B. (2012a) 'Anth'opology and its Multiple Modemities: when
concepts
Matter', Journal of the Ro1:al Anthropologiccr/ Institute, \g:160 l7g.
Thomassen, B. (20r2b)'Reason and.eligion in Rawls: voegelin's
challenge,.
Thonassen,

P hi I o s op hi

a, forlh comi n g.

r.rrner),

Turner, E.

ll;J.lT"iilli:fJ"

Turner, V.
in Rites de passctge,. in
flte For
Turner', V. (1969) The Rilttal process, Chicago: Alcline.
Turner, Y. (1974) Dramas, Fierds, and Metaphors,Itrraca: corneil University press.
Tunrer. V. and E. Iumer (1978) [ntage and Pilgrintage in Christian Culttule,
Colurnbia:
Cohrmbia University Press.
Turrer, V (1982) From Ritual to Theatre, Neu, york: pAJ publications.
Turner, V.
a1 ro Liminoial, in play, Flou,, and Ritual: An Essay
in
Conrpara
.C. Harris ard R. park (eds), p/a1,, Games and Sports it1
Cttltm.al
: Hunan Kinetics publishers. 123 164.
Turner',

v.

(19E5)

ofArizona

on

Press.

the Edge o.f the Bush (edited by E. Tumcr), Arizona: The

Uni'ersity

Tumel, V. (
Van CenneJ
Weber, M, (
Weber,

Wilson, M
Transgen,

5(4):,125

Yanik, L K.
hybridity

tf

Revisiting
s tLp e t'

lininality

35

nto d e rn i. ry\.

neuts il.l Neolithic

/. 12(l): I l3-129.
nlerpreting Moder-

rk: Flee Press

J space'.

Yanik, L

NtLnten.

tlitical Antfuopolrnd the Politics

of

iludy;n the Emer-. iJt

J+/.
ondon: Yale Uni-

.elations Theor.y.,
nnecting Scholars

its Bacl<gr.oLtnd',

totional Politiccl
.ial A-ee Debate'.

\\rhen Concepts

in's

Challenge'.

ner (edited b1, E.

Press. 1 15

oe rossoge

tn

:sit1,Pless,

'/llE. Colulbia:

al: An

Es531,

j11

:s crnd Sports in
The IJnir.ersity

(201

'Conshlcting

I)
1'Lrrkrsh "exceptionalism": Discor-rrscs of linrinality and
hybridity in post-coJd war Tr-u'kish foreign policy' . poliriccrr
Geographt,30(2): s0 g9.