Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Liminalité'

Au sein de l'école élémentaire, les CLIS 1 sont des classes spécialisées qui accueillent des élèves porteurs de troubles des fonctions cognitives. Ces élèves doivent connaître des temps d'inclusion en classe ordinaire, alors nommée « classe d'inclusion ». Ma thèse s'intéresse à ce que disent les élèves de CLIS 1 de leur(s) place(s) dans l'école, à partir du concept de liminalité, tel qu'il a été défini par Murphy. Il Je postule que la CLIS est un lieu de la liminalité, permettant aux élèves de rester dans l'école sans les y inclure totalement.Je questionne la situation liminale des élèves de CLIS 1 par la dialectisation du statut, de la situation et de la place de la personne handicapée, dans une double perspective socio-historique et socio-clinique. La CLIS 1 peut être pensée comme un espace liminal, au regard de la définition du handicap mental et de ses différentes dénominations, de la perspective historique de la scolarisation des enfants en situation de handicap et de la politique actuelle qui revendique une volonté inclusive. A l'appui des cadres méthodologiques de l'analyse institutionnelle et de la sociologie de l'enfance, j'ai élaboré un dispositif de socio-clinique institutionnelle pour mener une réflexion collective avec les élèves de trois CLIS 1. Il ne s'agissait pas rechercher une adéquation des discours des élèves à la réalité observable, mais de confronter leurs représentations aux observations faites, de façon à analyser leur(s) place(s) au sein de l'institution scolaire.Mes données me conduisent à enrichir le cadre théorique initial. La liminalité des élèves de CLIS1 est une liminalité plurielle, qui dépend de facteurs sociaux, culturels, environnementaux, institutionnels, mais aussi individuels. La recherche a mis à jour le concept d'empan liminal, à savoir un processus dynamique qui se décline différentes situations liminales selon les temps d'inclusion en classe ordinaire de chaque élève. Mon travail empirique d'une part et théorique d'autre part me conduit à interroger les modalités de la mise en œuvre de la politique d'inclusion au sein de l'école élémentaire
Within the French primary school, CLIS 1 are specialised classes which accept children with cognitive disabilities. These children should partake in inclusion times in regular classes, called "inclusion classes". My thesis focuses on what CLIS 1 students say about their place(s) in the school, from the perspective of liminality, as defined by Murphy. I suggest that the CLIS is a place of liminality, allowing children to stay at school without their total inclusion.I question the liminal status of students in CLIS 1, by discussing the situation and place of disabled children, from both socio-historical and socio-clinical perspectives. The CLIS 1 can be thought of as a liminal space, regarding the definition of mental disability and its various denominations, from the historical perspective of the education of disabled children and from the current policy which claims inclusive desire. In support of the methodological frameworks of institutional analysis and the sociology of childhood, I developed a socio-clinical institutional device to guide a collective reflection with the children of three CLIS 1. It did not seek to match children's reflections to observable reality, The aim was not to compare exactly what the children said to observable reality, but to express to the children the contradictions between what they say and my observations, to analyse their place in the school.My data lead me to enrich the initial theoretical framework. The liminality of the children in CLIS 1 is a plural liminality, which depends on social, cultural, environmental, institutional, as well as individual factors. The research has updated the concept of liminal span, which is a dynamic process that weakens different liminal situations according to the inclusion time in regular classes of each child. My empirical work as well as my theoretical work, has led me to question the methods of the implementation of the inclusion policy in primary school

"Thèse en cotutelle. Doctorat en théologie. Université Laval, Québec, Canada, Philosophiæ doctor (Ph. D.) et Escola Superior de Teologia (EST) Sao Leopoldo, Brésil"
"Thèse en cotutelle. Doctorat en théologie. Université Laval, Québec, Canada, Philosophiæ doctor (Ph. D.) et Escola Superior de Teologia (EST) Sao Leopoldo, Brésil"
En étudiant une petite tribu appelée Ndembu, au nord-est de la Zambie, l’anthropolo gue Victor Turner (1920-1983) a développé sa théorie sur la liminalité. Avec cette théorie, l’auteur nous montre que la société Ndembu se configure comme un mélange de phénomènes « structuraux » et de phénomènes « contrestructuraux ». Dans l’idée de contrestructure on trouve le phénomène de la liminalité. Ce phénomène se caractérise comme une « retraite » des conditions structurelles. C’est un moment de vérification des valeurs essentielles et des axiomes de la culture. Dans les périodes liminales du rituel se trouve fréquemment la simplification, ou, même, l’élimination de la structure sociale. À partir de ses études sur la société Ndembu, Victor Turner commence à réfléchir sur les sociétées industriel les, technologiques et mondialisées. Dans notre sociétés, la liminalité est fragmentée en genres de phénomènes liminoïdes, comme le théâtre, la musique, le cinéma, les sports, etc. Cette constatation reconnaît certaine « deliminalisation » de la liturgie chrétienne d’aujourd'hui. Avec la fragmentation de la liminalité s’est fragmentée également la notion de salus. Dans la totalité liminale, le terme salus est une idée qui englobe les notions de santé et de salut. Actuellement, santé et salut représentent des choses différentes. Le salut est lié au rite. La santé est liée aux domaines médicaux. La conséquence de cette « séparation » c’est que le rite religieux a perdu progressivement son pouvoir thérapeutique. Avec cette problématique on pose deux questions préliminaires : Est-ce qu'il y a des raisons pour une reliminalisat ion de la liturgie ? Si oui, quels sont les moyens en vue de cette reliminalisation ? Comme question générale de recherche se demande : la dimension musicale de certains rites peut-elle aider la liturgie à redécouvrir son potentiel liminal et thérapeutique, en considérant que la musique représente une forme spécialisée de la thérapie (Musicothérapie) ? Comme hypothèse générale on pose : la dimension musicale de la liturgie est un facteur important pour le développement de la liminalité liturgique. Avec la redécouverte de sa capacité thérapeutique, la liturgie peut redécouvrir sa pertinence sociale. Afin de vérifier cette hypothèse, on cherche dans la musicothérapie des éléments théoriques et épistémologiques pour soutenir le pouvoir liminal et thérapeutique de l’expérience musicale en contexte rituel, en considérant le contexte rituel lui-même comme un contexte thérapeutique.
En étudiant une petite tribu appelée Ndembu, au nord-est de la Zambie, l’anthropolo gue Victor Turner (1920-1983) a développé sa théorie sur la liminalité. Avec cette théorie, l’auteur nous montre que la société Ndembu se configure comme un mélange de phénomènes « structuraux » et de phénomènes « contrestructuraux ». Dans l’idée de contrestructure on trouve le phénomène de la liminalité. Ce phénomène se caractérise comme une « retraite » des conditions structurelles. C’est un moment de vérification des valeurs essentielles et des axiomes de la culture. Dans les périodes liminales du rituel se trouve fréquemment la simplification, ou, même, l’élimination de la structure sociale. À partir de ses études sur la société Ndembu, Victor Turner commence à réfléchir sur les sociétées industriel les, technologiques et mondialisées. Dans notre sociétés, la liminalité est fragmentée en genres de phénomènes liminoïdes, comme le théâtre, la musique, le cinéma, les sports, etc. Cette constatation reconnaît certaine « deliminalisation » de la liturgie chrétienne d’aujourd'hui. Avec la fragmentation de la liminalité s’est fragmentée également la notion de salus. Dans la totalité liminale, le terme salus est une idée qui englobe les notions de santé et de salut. Actuellement, santé et salut représentent des choses différentes. Le salut est lié au rite. La santé est liée aux domaines médicaux. La conséquence de cette « séparation » c’est que le rite religieux a perdu progressivement son pouvoir thérapeutique. Avec cette problématique on pose deux questions préliminaires : Est-ce qu'il y a des raisons pour une reliminalisat ion de la liturgie ? Si oui, quels sont les moyens en vue de cette reliminalisation ? Comme question générale de recherche se demande : la dimension musicale de certains rites peut-elle aider la liturgie à redécouvrir son potentiel liminal et thérapeutique, en considérant que la musique représente une forme spécialisée de la thérapie (Musicothérapie) ? Comme hypothèse générale on pose : la dimension musicale de la liturgie est un facteur important pour le développement de la liminalité liturgique. Avec la redécouverte de sa capacité thérapeutique, la liturgie peut redécouvrir sa pertinence sociale. Afin de vérifier cette hypothèse, on cherche dans la musicothérapie des éléments théoriques et épistémologiques pour soutenir le pouvoir liminal et thérapeutique de l’expérience musicale en contexte rituel, en considérant le contexte rituel lui-même comme un contexte thérapeutique.
Upon studying a small tribe called Ndembu, in Northeastern Zambia, the anthropologist Victor Turner (1920-1983) developed the concept of liminality. Through that concept, the author shows that the Ndembu society is characterized by structural phenomena and antistructural phenomena. In the idea of anti-structural we can find the phenomenon of liminality. This phenomenon is characterized as a « withdrawal » and « escape » from structural conditions. It is a time of verification of the essential values and axioms of the culture. In the liminal times which are brought about by ritual activity one can often witness the simplification or even the momentary « elimination » of the idea of structure. From the studies among the Ndembu, Victor Turner begins to reflect on the industrial, globalized and technological societies. In our society the liminality is fragmented into genres of liminoid phenomena such as theatre, music, cinema, sports, etc. This finding recognizes a certain deliminalization of the Christian liturgy today. Along with the fragmentation of liminal ity, the notion of salus has also been fragmented. In the liminal totality, the term salus was a concept that encompassed the notions of health and salvation. Currently, health and salvation represent different things. Salvation is linked to rite. Health to the medical areas. The consequence of this « schism » is that the religious rite was gradually divested of its therapeutic power. With this problem there arose two preliminary questions : is there a reason for liturgy to be re-liminalized? If there is, what are the means for this re-liminalization? As a general question for this research, we asked : can the musical dimension of rites help liturgy rediscover its liminal and therapeutic potential, considering that music, one of the elements of the rite, has become a specialized form of therapy (Music Therapy)? As a general hypothesis, it is suggested that the musical dimension of liturgy is an important factor for the development of liturgical liminality. By enhancing the liminal capability of liturgy through its musical dimension, the therapeutic dimension inherent in the Christian liturgy since its origins will also be recovered. With the rediscovery of its therapeutic capability liturgy can rediscover its social relevance amid the other liminoids. To test this hypothesis, we will seek in music therapy theoretical and epistemological elements which give support for the limina l power from the musical experience in a ritual context, considering that music in a ritual context makes it a therapeutic context.
Upon studying a small tribe called Ndembu, in Northeastern Zambia, the anthropologist Victor Turner (1920-1983) developed the concept of liminality. Through that concept, the author shows that the Ndembu society is characterized by structural phenomena and antistructural phenomena. In the idea of anti-structural we can find the phenomenon of liminality. This phenomenon is characterized as a « withdrawal » and « escape » from structural conditions. It is a time of verification of the essential values and axioms of the culture. In the liminal times which are brought about by ritual activity one can often witness the simplification or even the momentary « elimination » of the idea of structure. From the studies among the Ndembu, Victor Turner begins to reflect on the industrial, globalized and technological societies. In our society the liminality is fragmented into genres of liminoid phenomena such as theatre, music, cinema, sports, etc. This finding recognizes a certain deliminalization of the Christian liturgy today. Along with the fragmentation of liminal ity, the notion of salus has also been fragmented. In the liminal totality, the term salus was a concept that encompassed the notions of health and salvation. Currently, health and salvation represent different things. Salvation is linked to rite. Health to the medical areas. The consequence of this « schism » is that the religious rite was gradually divested of its therapeutic power. With this problem there arose two preliminary questions : is there a reason for liturgy to be re-liminalized? If there is, what are the means for this re-liminalization? As a general question for this research, we asked : can the musical dimension of rites help liturgy rediscover its liminal and therapeutic potential, considering that music, one of the elements of the rite, has become a specialized form of therapy (Music Therapy)? As a general hypothesis, it is suggested that the musical dimension of liturgy is an important factor for the development of liturgical liminality. By enhancing the liminal capability of liturgy through its musical dimension, the therapeutic dimension inherent in the Christian liturgy since its origins will also be recovered. With the rediscovery of its therapeutic capability liturgy can rediscover its social relevance amid the other liminoids. To test this hypothesis, we will seek in music therapy theoretical and epistemological elements which give support for the limina l power from the musical experience in a ritual context, considering that music in a ritual context makes it a therapeutic context.
Estudando uma pequena tribo chamada Ndembu, no nordeste da Zâmbia, o antropólogo Victor Tumer (1920-1983) desenvolveu a noção de liminalidade. Através dela, o autor mostra que a sociedade Ndembu caracteriza-se por ser uma mistura de fenômenos estruturais e fenômenos contraestruturais. Na ideia de contraestrutura é que se encontra o fenômeno da liminalidade. Este fenômeno caracteriza-se como « retiro » e « escape » das condições estruturais. É um momento de verificação dos valores e axiomas essenciais da cultura. Nos momentos liminais alcançados pelas atividades rituais frequentemente ocorre a simplificação ou até mesmo a « eliminação » momentânea da ideia de estrutura. A partir dos estudos entre os Ndembu, Victor Turner começa a refletir sobre as sociedades industriais, tecnológicas e globalizadas. Em nossas sociedades a liminalidade está fragmentada em gêneros de fenômenos liminóides, como o teatro, a música, o cinema, os esportes, etc. Esta constatação reconhece certa deliminalizaçâo da liturgia cristã na atualidade. Com a fragmentação da liminalidade fragmentou-se também a noção de salus. Na totalidade liminal, o termo salus designava um só conceito que englobava as noções de saúde e salvação. Atualmente, saúde e salvação representam coisas distintas. A salvação está ligada ao rito. A saúde às áreas médicas. A consequência desta « cisão » é que o rito religioso foi gradativame nte desinstituído do seu poder terapêutico. Com esta problemática chega-se a duas questões preliminares : há razão para que a liturgia seja reliminalizada? Se há, quais são os meios para esta reliminalização? Como questão geral de pesquisa, emprega-se : pode a dimensão musical dos ritos contribuir para que a liturgia redescubra seu potencial liminal e terapêutico, tendo em vista que a música, um dos elementos do rito, tornou-se uma forma especializada de terapia (Musicoterapia)? Como hipótese geral tem-se que a dimensão musical da liturgia é um importante fator para a potencialização da liminalidade litúrgica. Potencializando a capacidade liminal da liturgia através de sua dimensão musical, resgatar-se-á também a dimensão terapêutica inerente à liturgia cristã desde as suas origens. Com a redescoberta da sua capacidade terapêutica a liturgia pode redescobrir sua relevância social em meio aos demais liminóides. Para a verificação desta hipótese, buscar-se-á na Musicoterapia elementos teóricos e epistemológicos que fundamentem o poder liminal da experiência musical em contexto ritual, considerando o próprio contexto ritual um contexto terapêutico.
Estudando uma pequena tribo chamada Ndembu, no nordeste da Zâmbia, o antropólogo Victor Tumer (1920-1983) desenvolveu a noção de liminalidade. Através dela, o autor mostra que a sociedade Ndembu caracteriza-se por ser uma mistura de fenômenos estruturais e fenômenos contraestruturais. Na ideia de contraestrutura é que se encontra o fenômeno da liminalidade. Este fenômeno caracteriza-se como « retiro » e « escape » das condições estruturais. É um momento de verificação dos valores e axiomas essenciais da cultura. Nos momentos liminais alcançados pelas atividades rituais frequentemente ocorre a simplificação ou até mesmo a « eliminação » momentânea da ideia de estrutura. A partir dos estudos entre os Ndembu, Victor Turner começa a refletir sobre as sociedades industriais, tecnológicas e globalizadas. Em nossas sociedades a liminalidade está fragmentada em gêneros de fenômenos liminóides, como o teatro, a música, o cinema, os esportes, etc. Esta constatação reconhece certa deliminalizaçâo da liturgia cristã na atualidade. Com a fragmentação da liminalidade fragmentou-se também a noção de salus. Na totalidade liminal, o termo salus designava um só conceito que englobava as noções de saúde e salvação. Atualmente, saúde e salvação representam coisas distintas. A salvação está ligada ao rito. A saúde às áreas médicas. A consequência desta « cisão » é que o rito religioso foi gradativame nte desinstituído do seu poder terapêutico. Com esta problemática chega-se a duas questões preliminares : há razão para que a liturgia seja reliminalizada? Se há, quais são os meios para esta reliminalização? Como questão geral de pesquisa, emprega-se : pode a dimensão musical dos ritos contribuir para que a liturgia redescubra seu potencial liminal e terapêutico, tendo em vista que a música, um dos elementos do rito, tornou-se uma forma especializada de terapia (Musicoterapia)? Como hipótese geral tem-se que a dimensão musical da liturgia é um importante fator para a potencialização da liminalidade litúrgica. Potencializando a capacidade liminal da liturgia através de sua dimensão musical, resgatar-se-á também a dimensão terapêutica inerente à liturgia cristã desde as suas origens. Com a redescoberta da sua capacidade terapêutica a liturgia pode redescobrir sua relevância social em meio aos demais liminóides. Para a verificação desta hipótese, buscar-se-á na Musicoterapia elementos teóricos e epistemológicos que fundamentem o poder liminal da experiência musical em contexto ritual, considerando o próprio contexto ritual um contexto terapêutico.

Les personnes en situation de handicap peuvent-elles être touristes ? Face à la discordance entre le corps déficient et l’environnement, quelles actions peuvent être mises en œuvre pour favoriser l’accès des touristes à mobilité réduite aux aménités du littoral ? Les discontinuités spatiales génèrent des situations de handicap et entraînent de fortes inégalités socio-spatiales en matière d’accès aux ressources territoriales. Face à ce constat, la loi du 11 février 2005 rend obligatoire la mise en place d’une politique publique de mise en accessibilité basée sur le paradigme de la conception pour tous. Et s’il est admis que les personnes en situation de handicap ont droit au travail, l’accès aux vacances et aux loisirs qui lui sont attachés sont moins pris en compte dans notre société. Pourtant, le droit au tourisme apparaît comme une demande sociale forte de la part des personnes à mobilité réduite. Pour y répondre, les pouvoirs publics français contribuent à créer de nouvelles modalités d’accès aux pratiques touristiques à travers le label « Tourisme & Handicap ». Largement inédite dans la recherche géographique française, la relation entre tourisme et handicap soulève pourtant de nombreuses interrogations sur la mobilité, l’habiter touristique, l’inclusion socio-spatiale ou encore la citoyenneté des personnes handicapées. Pour cela nous ferons, à l’aide des outils de la Géographie, et en particulier les SIG, l’hypothèse de l’utilité d’un modèle territorial du tourisme accessible pour que les politiques publiques du handicap puissent contribuer à lutter efficacement contre les injustices spatiales, à faciliter l’acceptation de la diversité humaine et à maximiser les conditions de concrétisation du bien-être des personnes autrement capables
People with disabilities can they be tourists ? Facing the discrepancy between the deficient body and the environment, what actions can be implemented to facilitate access of tourists with limited mobility to coastal amenities ? Spatial discontinuities create situations of disability and entail strong socio-spatial inequalities when it's a matter in access to territorial resources. Faced with this situation the law of February 11th 2005 mandates the establishment of public policy of accessibility based on the paradigm of design for all. If it is recognized that people with disabilities have the right to work, access to holidays and leisure attached to it are less taken into account in our society. Yet, the right to tourism is a strong social claim by disabled people. To answer this, French government help to create new modalities of access to tourism practices through the label "Tourisme & handicap". Widely unprecedented in the French geographic research, the relationship between tourism and disability raises yet many questions about mobility, mode of dwelling tourist, socio-spatial inclusion or citizenship of people with disabilities. For this we will do, using the tools of Geography, like GIS, the hypothesis of the usefulness of a territorial model tourism accessible so that the public policy of disability can contribute to fight effectively against spatial injustices, to facilitate the acceptance of human diversity and to maximise conditions of concretisation well-being of people otherwise capable

La liminalité est classiquement définie comme un état de transition entre et entre-deux positions sociales. Ce concept fondamental dans la recherche en marketing est utilisé pour explorer les transitions de vie des consommateurs, les rituels de consommation, et les expériences de marché extraordinaires. Cette thèse évalue la théorisation de la liminalité, identifie des hypothèses insuffisantes dans son traitement actuel et propose des outils conceptuels pour avancer sa théorisation à l’ère de la modernité liquide en étudiant deux modes de vie contemporains qui marient contingence, incertitude et ambiguïté. Le premier essai est un article conceptuel qui réexamine le traitement de la liminalité dans la recherche sur le comportement du consommateur. Contestant l’hypothèse d’unidimensionnalité, deux formes distinctes, la liminalité transformationnelle et la liminoïdité, sont identifiées. A l'inverse du traitement laudatif usuel, les dangers de la liminalité, lorsqu’elle fait partie d’une transition dépourvue de sens, sont soulignées. Cet essai contribue à la littérature en résolvant des ambiguïtés définitionnelles, en soulignant les limites du concept et en indiquant des directions de future recherche. Le deuxième essai étudie le mode de vie flexible, défini comme la tendance à embrasser à dessein l’instabilité, le changement et l’adaptabilité dans l’ensemble de sa vie via la précarité professionnelle. En mêlant entretiens longs, techniques projectives et observations participantes, cet essai interroge la façon dont les diverses et fréquentes transitions qui caractérisent le mode de vie flexible sont gérées par les consommateurs. S’écartant de la littérature existante, cet essai contribue à la recherche sur la liminalité des consommateurs en illustrant que la liminalité permanente est insoutenable pour les individus, qui ont besoin d’être libérés de la pression écrasante de sa poursuite. De plus, le capital de flexibilité est identifié comme ce qui leur permet d’accomplir avec succès ce mode de vie et ainsi de créer une échappatoire à la structure sociale qui, sinon, les contraindrait à des positions dominées. Le troisième essai étudie le parcours liminal des consommateurs qui traversent des transitions interculturelles répétées. Des entretiens en autodriving et longs explorent la mobilité ouverte, un type de mobilité internationale caractérisée par une forte incertitude quant à la durée du séjour à l’étranger et à la prochaine destination. Le parcours liminal des consommateurs les expose à un risque de déracinement et de perte de soi qui doivent être compensés par une consommation solide, ancrant le récit identitaire des consommateurs dans des expériences de consommation cristallisées, des objets matériels et des marques symboliques
Consumer liminality is a vital concept in marketing research, usually defined as a transitional state of betwixt and between social positions. It enlightens life transitions, extraordinary experiences, and consumption rituals. This dissertation assesses the conceptualization of consumer liminality and advances its theorization in liquid modernity by exploring contemporary consumer lifestyles which embrace contingency, uncertainty, and ambiguity. The first essay conceptually reexamines the treatment of liminality in consumer research. I identify two distinct forms, transformational liminality and liminoidity, thus challenging the unidimensionality assumption. Countering its celebratory treatment, I highlight the dangers of liminality when it is part of a meaningless transition. This essay contributes to the literature by resolving definitional ambiguities, outlining the concept’s scope, and delineating research directions. The second essay explores the flexible consumer lifestyle, defined as purposefully embracing instability, change, and adaptability in every aspect of life through professional precariousness. Using a combination of long interviews, projective techniques, and participant observation, I question how the frequent life transitions which characterize the flexible lifestyle and could be conceptualized as an experience of permanent liminality, are handled by consumers. Departing from prior literature, this essay contributes to consumer research on liminality by illustrating that permanent liminality is unsustainable for individuals, who need a release from the overwhelming pressures of its pursuit. Further, I identify flexibility capital as what enables consumers to perform successfully this lifestyle and thus, create an escape from the social structure which otherwise compels them to dominated precarious positions. The third essay studies the liminal consumer journeys of consumers who experience repeated cross-cultural transitions. I combine autodriving and long interviews to explore open-ended mobility, a type of international mobility characterized by a high uncertainty regarding the duration of the stay abroad and the next destination. This essay contributes by emphasizing liminal dangers. I identify that liminal consumer journeys put consumers at risk of rootlessness and self-loss and must be compensated by solidifying consumption, which anchors consumers’ identity narratives in crystallized consumption experiences, material objects, and symbolic brands

La santé des personnes détenues et sortant de prison est un problème de santé publique peu étudié. À partir du cas d'hommes qui vivent avec le VIH et/ou une hépatite C en Ile-de-France, la thèse entend éclairer les parcours de vie et de santé avant, pendant et après l'incarcération. Ces parcours ont été construits à partir d'une enquête sociologique en trois volets (observation, séries d'entretiens biographiques et questionnaires). Conduite en prison et en ville, l'enquête permet de décrire les expériences de prises en charge et le travail des professionnels du médico-social. L'hépatite C est vécue et traitée comme étant moins grave que le VIH, ce qui explique que les reports de traitement de l'hépatite C sont plus fréquents et les expériences de la maladie, moins éprouvantes et moins stigmatisantes. Les interruptions de traitements sont courtes et imbriquées dans le travail d'ajustements pluriels qu'entreprennent les patients, pour faire face à l'épreuve de la sortie de prison. Ces ajustements concernent les démarches laborieuses d'accès aux droits et aux soins mais aussi l'expe��rience incorporée de la sortie, l'insertion relationnelle et l'insertion par le travail. Les interactions entre les sortants, leurs proches et les professionnels qui les prennent en charge sont prises dans des rapports de domination imbriqués. L'assujettissement se conjugue à la responsabilisation des sortants pour produire à la fois des injonctions à intérioriser des normes de santé et des injonctions à se prendre en charge et devenir responsable. Enfin, les parcours de ces hommes et ces femmes sont inscrits dans un processus de progression de la vulnérabilité sociale, exacerbée par la séropositivité, les incarcérations et les ajustements de la sortie de prison. La sortie est vécue comme un moment liminaire dans les parcours, de passage entre la prison et la ville. Sa temporalité est particulière : construite autour des activités et les relations d'aide plutôt que par le temps chronologique linéaire, la sortie est pleine d'incertitude et semble se prolonger sans fin
The health of inmates and released inmates is a public health problem seldom studied in France. The case study of men living with HIV and/or hepatitis C in the greater Parisian region is central to this PhD research. It aims to shed light on the life course and health trajectories before, during and after incarceration. These trajectories are constructed from data gathered through a three-pronged field work (observation, a series of biographical interviews and a survey). The study was conducted in and outside of prison to describe prisoners' experiences of care and treatment and the work done by healthcare and social work professionals. Hepatitis C is considered less important and severe than HIV, which explains the more frequent delays in recourse to care upon release and less challenging and stigmatizing experiences of the illness. Treatment interruptions are short and are part of the multiple adjustments that patients undertake to cope with release. These adjustments involve the tedious administrative procedures to (re)gain access to health and social welfare but also an embodied experience of release, (re)negotiation of personal and professional relationships. The interactions between the released inmates, their kin and the professionals who take care of them are described within the power structures in which they are embedded. In their institutional experience, patients are simultaneously regarded as subjects meant to interiorize health norms and asked to become self-reliant responsible individuals. Lastly, the trajectories of these men and women are inscribed in a process of progressing social vulnerability, exacerbated by HIV and HCV status, incarcerations and their release from prison. Prison release is lived as a liminal moment in the trajectories, as they pass from prison back into the city. The temporality is particular: it is constructed around activities and support relationships rather than based on linear chronological time; as a result prison release is full of uncertainty and seems interminable

La proximité entre les écrits de Novalis et de Mallarmé est aujourd’hui un lieu commun de la recherche sans pour autant avoir fait l’objet d’une étude approfondie. Si une influence directe ne saurait être affirmée avec certitude, le simple constat d’une modernité commune est également insuffisant. La parenté entre les deux projets esthétiques se situe à un autre niveau. Dans les contextes de crise des années autour de 1800 et de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, les deux auteurs esquissent une conception de l’art qui vise une réorganisation des espaces du savoir de l’âge moderne. Le dispositif central de cette ‘troisième voie’ est celui de la limite qui permet de rompre avec la vanité d’une approche représentative de l’expérience esthétique. L’esthétique des limites de Novalis et de Mallarmé ne se restreint pas au simple constat de la négativité qui résulte des nombreuses limites fondamentales auxquelles l’être humain moderne se trouve confronté. Les deux auteurs ne considèrent pas en premier lieu la limite dans sa fonction de délimitation, mais comme un espace propre qui revêt une productivité et une fonctionnalité épistémologiques considérables. Selon eux, la limite est une configuration essentielle de l’expérience esthétique parce qu’elle confère à celle-ci une médialité et une performativité spécifiques qui permettent de dépasser la relation binaire entre la discursivité du savoir positif et l’inaccessibilité d’un savoir absolu. Ainsi, l’esthétique des limites est une conception particulièrement pertinente à l’époque actuelle où le débat sur la valeur épistémologique de l’art et de la littérature est loin d’être terminé
The similarity between the writings of Novalis and Mallarmé has become a topos in research, however, it has never been the object of a detailed study. On the one hand, we cannot say that Mallarmé was directly influenced by Novalis, on the other, the declaration that they share a modern vision is just as insufficient. The connection between the two aesthetic projects has to be found on another level. In their respective contexts of crisis, that characterise the periods around 1800 and the second half of the 19th century, both poets outline a conception of art with the objective of a new organisation of modern spaces of knowledge. Boundaries are a central dispositive of this ‘third way’ because they make it possible to overcome the vanity of a representative conception of aesthetic experience. Novalis’ and Mallarmé’s aesthetics of boundaries do not confine themselves to simply assessing the negativity that results from the numerous fundamental limitations of modern human condition. Both of them do not primarily consider the phenomenon of boundary to be a mere function of delimitation. For Novalis and Mallarmé, a boundary is an autonomous space that possesses a high epistemological productivity and functionality. Boundaries are central configurations of aesthetic experience because they endow this experience with a specific mediality and performativity that allow to overcome the binary relationship between positive discursive knowledge and the unattainability of absolute knowledge. The aesthetics of boundaries are an important concept nowadays as the debate surrounding the epistemological relevance of art and literature is far from being finished

This doctoral thesis addresses how mobile project workers; technical consultants working in projects, experience and deal with project-based work. The thesis consists of a compilation of five papers and an extended summary. It is based on three qualitative studies including methods like interviews, diaries, and observations. The thesis adopts and develops the conceptual lens of liminality. The results of this thesis show that mobile project workers use four different practices to deal with liminality at work. Furthermore, the thesis develops the framework of “liminality competence,” indicating that some mobile project workers are better at utilizing their liminal positions than others. The thesis also studies how liminality competence is developed and how formal training programs influence the liminal position for mobile project workers.
I denna avhandling studeras hur mobila projektarbetare, i detta fall teknikkonsulter som utför arbete i kundprojekt, upplever och hanterar projektbaserat arbete. Avhandlingen presenterar tre kvalitativa studier som bygger på intervjuer, dagboksanteckningar och deltagande observationer. Avhandlingen består av fem artiklar och en kappa. För denna studie används begreppet liminalitet som fångar den mobilitet och organisatoriska tvetydighet som föreligger i mobila projektarbetares arbetssituation. Avhandlingen utvecklar liminalitetsbegreppet ytterligare relaterat till liminella positioner i arbetslivet. Analysen identifierar fyra liminalitetspraktiker som mobila projektarbetare använder för att hantera sin arbetssituation. Dessutom utvecklas begreppet liminalitetskompetens. Detta begrepp används för att förstå hur mobila projektarbetare hanterar sin liminella arbetssituation och vilka skillnader som finns vad gäller förmågan att hantera liminalitet i arbetet. Avhandlingen undersöker också hur sådan kompetens utvecklas och hur formella lärandeprogram kan påverka liminalitetssituationen och liminalitetskompetensen hos mobila projektmedarbetare.

Die folgende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema Stadtmigration in Astana (Kasachstan) und befasst sich mit der Forschungsfrage wie das Alltagsleben von Zugezogenen in der neuen Hauptstadt von Kasachstan aussieht. Mein Ziel war es, die verschiedenen Facetten des Alltagslebens und die daraus folgenden Herausforderungen zu untersuchen. Astana, seit 1997 die neue Hauptstadt von Kasachstan, wird oft das "Dubai Zentralasiens" genannt. Die kasachische Regierung wirbt für Astana als einen Grundpfeiler der neuen kasachischen nationalen Identität und als ein Symbol für das moderne, westliche, reiche neue Kasachstan. Die kasachischen Eliten feiern Astana als einen Triumph von Präsident Nazarbayev. Meine Forschung beruht darauf, dass ich vielfältige Selbsterzählungen von Kasachen sammelte, die nach Astana kamen um es zu "erobern". Damit leistet die Dissertation einen Beitrag zur urbanen Ethnographie in Zentralasien. Die Arbeit besteht aus fünf Hauptkapiteln. Kapitel eins umfasst die Einleitung und legt die theoretische und methodologische Grundlage der Arbeit fest. Der theoretische Ansatz von Setha Low „co-production of space“ (the social production and social construction of space) leitet die Forschungsfrage und der Begriff von Liminality (Turner 1967, Thomassen, 2014) wird als zentrales Grundkonzept die Analyse der Arbeit begleiten. Kapitel zwei beschreibt die Zugezogenen und definiert diese als priezzhie, die sich im Status von „in-between“ befinden. Kapitel drei beschreibt die Wohnsituation junger Zugezogener in Astana und Kapitel vier schildert das Single Leben von jungen Frauen. In den letzten Kapiteln geht es darum, welche Möglichkeiten und Chancen sich den Zugezogenen bieten, ihre Träume und Vorstellungen umzusetzen. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass die Erfahrungen, welche Zugezogene in Astana machen, sehr gut als Beispiele für liminal personae und liminales Wohnen verstanden werden können.
The dissertation aims to answer the research question of what it means for various groups of individuals to live in Astana on a daily basis. As the new capital, Astana attracted a large number of internal migrants from various parts of Kazakhstan, who searched for better prospects and lives. Officially, the new capital is promoted by Kazakhstan’s government as “city of the future” and regards it as President Nazarbayev’s (1991-2019) most successful project. The dissertation offers an ethnographic contribution to urban experiences of migrants in Central Asia. The dissertation is divided into five main chapters. Chapter one offers an introduction to the theme and outlines major theoretical framework and the methodology on which the research is based. I apply the theory of the co-production of space (the social production and social construction of space) outlined by Setha Low to integrate the ‘spatial’ aspect as an integral part of my research. In addition, I employ the concept of liminality (Turner, 1967, Thomassen, 2014) as the central idea to analyze the stories of my informants. Within this framework, I argue that Astana’s unique urban space supports the emergence of liminal personae, liminal housing arrangements, lifestyles and career aspirations which are mutually connected and influence each other. Accordingly, the second chapter describes the newcomers who are defined as ‘priezzhie’ and occupy an in-between status. The third chapter looks at housing and focuses on renting in shared flats. The fourth chapter is about the dating experiences of young women. The last chapter is about achieving success and career aspirations of newcomers. In conclusion, I argue that liminality explains the temporary fixation of the ambiguous, conflicting, and unstable order which has emerged for many newcomers in Astana.

Traditionnellement c’est dans le club de judo ordinaire que les judokas en situation de handicap s’entraînent. Néanmoins, historiquement ce sont les fédérations par délégation de publics handicapés qui en ont eu l’autorité sportive. Le processus d'institutionnalisation inclusif engagé depuis le début des années 2000 du sport pour les personnes en situation de handicap vers le mouvement sportif, va redessiner les contours d’un espace social jusqu’alors stable. Dans la mesure où la délégation de compétition est accordée de façon exclusive à une seule fédération, l’État organise une situation de monopole de droit. Ainsi, le judo non-voyant étant le seul à intégrer les jeux paralympiques, il devient par son statut, un enjeu de pouvoir entre la fédération handisport et celle du judo. L’échec des jeux paralympiques de 2012 remet en question les consensus à propos de la délégation sportive entre la FFH et la FFJDA. À partir d’une enquête de terrain en immersion, il nous a été possible d’interviewer les acteurs représentatifs des deux organisations pour comprendre la controverse et le début de polémique en cours. Puis, dans un second temps, l’analyse des entretiens et des discours, par une approche sociologique pragmatique, nous a permis de mettre en évidence les jeux d’arguments déployés par les protagonistes, et de révéler la manière dont la puissance étatique, à travers la figure sociale de l’inclusion, conditionnait la temporalité des débats et son emprise sur la politique des fédérations sportives nationales
Traditionally it is in the ordinary judo club that disabled judokas train. Nevertheless, historically it is the federations by delegation of disabled public who have had the sporting authority. The process of inclusive institutionalization initiated since the beginning of the 2000s of the disabled sport towards the sporting movement, will redraw the outlines of a previously stable social space. Insofar as the competition delegation is granted exclusively to a single federation, the State organizes a situation of legal monopoly. Thus, blind judo being the only one to integrate the Paralympic games, it becomes by its status, a stake of power between the federation disability and that of judo. The failure of the 2012 Paralympic games challenges consensus about the sports delegation between the FFH and the FFJDA. From a field survey in immersion, we were able to interview the representative actors of the two organizations to understand the controversy and the beginning of controversy in progress. Then, in a second step, the analysis of the interviews and the speeches, using a pragmatic sociological approach, allowed us to highlight the games of arguments deployed by the protagonists, and to reveal the way in which the state power, to through the social figure of inclusion, conditioned the temporality of the debates and its influence on the politics of the national sports federations

L’ambition des politiques sociales actuelles est de réduire les inégalités dans l’accès aux droits : renforcer l'accès à une pleine citoyenneté aux personnes handicapées et tendre vers une société inclusive. Reflet d’un changement de paradigme, le terme « inclusion » succède à celui d’« intégration». Autrement dit, ce n’est plus à l’individu « différent » de s’adapter à un système dit « normal », mais à la société de faire en sorte d'inclure toute personne quelles que soient ses particularités : la solidarité est l’affaire de tous. À La Réunion, les politiques inclusives s’inscrivent dans un contexte sociologique particulier. L’île présente des particularismes dus à une histoire coloniale récente, suivie d’un développement socioéconomique accéléré depuis la départementalisation en 1946. Ce DROM – Département Région Outre-Mer – présente les atouts d’une société industrielle mais n’en reste pas moins dépourvue de ressources propres. Un métissage de la population, une multiplicité, une mixité de pratiques culturelles et cultuelles sur ce petit territoire viennent rappeler la singularité des Réunionnais. La lecture du handicap et son traitement social en sont fortement imprégnés. Cette société qui a développé un mode de fonctionnement particulier, a fabriqué des espaces inclusifs qui ne correspondent pas toujours aux exigences et codes de la société française métropolitaine. Ces espaces viennent se poser parfois en dualité avec l’école, ce qui place les enfants handicapés mentaux sur la liminalité, sorte de sas entre les deux sphères, familiale et scolaire, mais dans lequel certains élèves stagnent. Les dispositifs actuels en faveur de l’inclusion amènent les acteurs impliqués, familles et professionnels, enseignants et travailleurs sociaux, à œuvrer pour une meilleure inclusion
Social policies nowadays aim at reducing inequalities in access to rights: reinforce access to full citizenship for people with disabilities and build an inclusive society. The concept of "inclusion" is gradually substituting that of "integration", following the change of paradigm. In other words, it is no longer up to the person with “special needs” to adapt himself to a so-called "normal" system. It’s up to society to ensure that everybody is included, regardless of his particularities. Solidarity is everyone's responsibility. The sociological context of Reunion Island is quite particular: it has known a colonial history before its accession to the statute of French department in 1946, which has accelerated its socio-economic development. This Overseas Department presents the advantages of an industrial society, without any natural resources. The various cultural and religious practices in such a small territory due to the melding of populations make the people of Reunion island singular. Their representation of handicap and its social treatment are strongly influenced. This society has developed spheres of inclusion with particular codes that are quite different from those of the French metropolitan society. Therefore, these particular codes are sometimes different from those practiced in school. And children with mental disabilities live in a sort of airlock between the family and school spheres, where some students stagnate, in the liminality. Nowadays all stakeholders, families, teachers and social workers, try to rely on new schemes to achieve a better inclusion for these children

Souvent conceptualisée comme l’envers ou l’opposé de la raison, la folie, presque toujours synonyme de débordement, semble vouée à outrepasser toute limite définitoire ou conceptuelle posée par la pensée rationnelle. Cette pulsion de délimitation ou de classification inhérente à la rationalité, trouve dans le genre l’une de ses expressions les plus représentatives. Partant du constat que la folie ne cesse de transgresser les frontières traditionnelles de genre, ce travail étudie les liens entre les représentations littéraires de la maladie mentale et les questions de genre sexué (« gender ») comme littéraire, dans un corpus composé de romans, nouvelles et pièces de théâtre de six auteurs (Janet Frame, Jenny Diski, Sarah Kane, Ian McEwan, Anthony Neilson et Will Self), publiés entre 1951 et 2004. Animées par une dynamique toujours renouvelée de subversion des catégories établies, ces oeuvres invitent à une réflexion sur le rapport particulier qu’entretient la folie à la frontière, qui de simple ligne de démarcation ou de séparation se fait point de contact, puis espace à part entière. À travers leurs représentations de la folie, les récits étudiés privilégient le plus souvent, en effet, une esthétique et une épistémologie de l’entre. Cette réflexion s’articule donc principalement autour des images et des usages de la liminalité dans ces histoires de fous et de folles qui, au fil de leur (re)définition de l’appartenance et de l’identité des textes et des individus, esquissent une cartographie mobile des « contrées à venir » dont Deleuze et Guattari font la destination de toute écriture
Traditionally conceptualised as the underside or the outside of reason, madness most often rhymes with excess; as such, it continually threatens to transgress all definitional or conceptual limits set by rational thought. Indeed, at the core of rationality is an impulse to delimit and classify, of which categories of genre and gender are quintessential examples. Starting from the observation that depicting madness regularly entails crossing, questioning and redefining genre and gender boundaries, this work investigates how literary representations of madness relate to the classification and conceptualisation of gender and genre in a selection of novels, short stories and plays by six different writers – Janet Frame, Jenny Diski, Sarah Kane, Ian McEwan, Anthony Neilson, and Will Self – published between 1951 and 2004. With the subversion of established categories as their central aim and dynamics, these works call for an exploration of the specific way in which depictions of madness, by using the border as one of their core motifs, impact the conceptualisation of borders. No longer a mere demarcation or dividing line between spaces, or simply a meeting point, the border becomes a full-blown space for individuals and texts to inhabit. Indeed, through their representations of madness, the borderline stories under study seem to embrace and promote both an aesthetics and an epistemology of the in-between. This work therefore focuses on the images and uses of liminality in stories of madmen and madwomen that, by remapping textual and sexual identities, have begun to chart these “lands to come” which, according to Deleuze and Guattari, are the true destination of all writing

This work analyzes the transitional activities and experiences that are inherent to accessing and navigating the Internet. Under established anthropological fieldwork of liminality theory by Victor Turner, as well as John Dewey's claims in experiential aesthetic theory, aesthetic experiences of the Internet are characterized. This paper concludes that such internet experiences abide by liminal thresholds and therefore comprise aesthetic distinction and significance. While Dewian aesthetics can only characterize this aesthetic distinction to a certain degree, Blanka Domagalska provides an alternative liminal explanation towards classifying such experience and its effect on individuation. Conclusive classifications of internet experiences in turn lend to greater metaphysical considerations regarding humanity's manifestation of being in a hyper-mediated, internet accessible world.

There is a strain of curriculum theory especially since the reconceptionalist movement that applies existential philosophy to educational issues and questions. There is also a related branch of curriculum theory that looks especially at existentialist theology to cast light on curriculum issues from a more religious slant. Both of these strains of analysis are rooted in Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism and existential theology (Huebner, 1999; Tillich, 1948). The educational implications of the works of Kierkegaard are a subject that has been virtually unexamined in either educational or Kierkegaardian scholarship except by two scholars whose works are already 40 years old. A pedagogy of liminality aims at empowering the teacher and student to make what is being studied in the classroom something that each student will appropriate in her own way. The teacher facilitates this process by never letting the student rest for very long in any particular solution to a problem. Rather the teacher positions the student on a landscape which is filled with paradoxes. Each solution breeds a new set of questions and often equally viable though opposite solutions. The teacher thus constantly places herself and her student between dialectical poles, always reaching higher and higher syntheses in recursive process. The purpose of a pedagogy of liminality is twofold. First, it prevents the curriculum from becoming an inert object. It becomes a dynamic growing thing. Second, it requires the student to never rest in any so-called objective answer but to always be striving towards a higher answer and an even better set of questions. In this way the teacher and student in collective discourse are each appropriating the discourse uniquely in enriching their life narratives. This is consistent with Kierkegaard's primary emphasis on subjectivity and his view of objectivity as secondary and always ideally in the context and service of subjectivity. This dissertation is done in the hybrid style. The main part of the work is designed as a journal article.

Liminality, a state of being in-between, has been a conceptual tool of the social sciences for some time. In the last 30 years there has also been a growing academic concern with exile, the 'age of the refugee', migration, cultural identity, and what are arguably symptoms of the late-capitalist phenomenon that Auqe has termed 'supermodernity'. However, there is a paucity of exploration of the concepts of Iiminality and the exilic condition combined in contemporary visual art. This thesis proposes that the exilic condition can be examined in terms of its liminal aspects. More specifically it proposes that a concept of arrested Iiminality makes possible the analysis of the exilic condition as a manifestation of an incomplete transition. The research found evidence that memory is a factor in preventing the completion of such transitions. It also seeks to show that broken social bonds are a more accurate indicator of the exilic condition fhan physical displacement. The research takes as its starting point the investigation, design and . making of a creative body of work, as an explicit and intentional method of generating research data. The theoretical framework for the evaluation, analysis and synthesis of the data follows Scrivener's basic structure for the form of a creative-production project. The detailed concepts and hypotheses are allowed to emerge from the work (data) by the use of grounded theory. Researching through mixed media resulted in six sets of artworks that allowed the varied facets of arrested liminality to be made visible. The concept of arrested liminality, emergent from reflection in practice, was found to contribute to a more precise understanding of the generic condition of exile, and of the key role played by memory in generating the exilic condition.

Loosely following a narrative form and structure, this thesis begins, in chapter one, by considering people who occupy a peripheral position in - or on the fringe of - society. In so doing, it analyses the dichotomy created between centre and periphery, the line between qualities or features that are set up as different or opposed. The chapter begins by contextualising my own engagement with the themes and narratives dealt with. It then looks at the representation and significance of historical and cultural characters such as the tramp and the wanderer, the medieval wildman and the outcast, the madman and the prophet, and relates this to some extent to my own narrative. The dichotomy between culture and nature is thus examined here. The paper then moves on, in chapter two, to examine concerns around landscape, and considers how we engage or separate ourselves from it. The theme of walking is examined closely from an experiential, phenomenological standpoint, especially as an activity which allows greater connection to, and engagement with, the landscape. The relationship between landscape, place, and identity is also explored, looking at how identity is interwoven with connection to place, and, broadly, what this might mean for displaced people. These discussions and ideas are then brought to bear again on my personal narrative. In chapter three I explore again the separation between dichotomous concepts as looked at in chapter one; I examine the separations between, and within, people, as well as between people and their environment. Here, however, the line of separation is explored not as an impermeable barrier, but as a liminal space of potential and possibility. With this in mind I look at sacred or liminal places within the landscape, as well as the idea of the sublime. I also consider the camera from this perspective, and finally present my own exhibition and body of work, reviewing it in the light of the narratives and themes explored through the thesis.

This research investigates the discursive construction of liminality in Turkey's Justice and Development Party's (Adalet ve Kalkznma Partisi- AK Party) nation branding efforts between 2007 and 2013. Liminality is the interstructural stage of transitions in which the subject remains outside the defined social structures and practices, and thus entering "a realm of pure possibility" (Turner 1967: 97). Liminality in AK Party's nation branding originates in foreign policy, which supplements existing political and economic ties to Europe with a proactive regional policy that revives Turkey's Islamic and Ottoman culture and heritage. In tum, Turkey's communications with foreign publics increasingly deploy Turkey' s European and Middle-Eastern characteristics. Brand Turkey is constructed as "neither this nor that and yet both" (Turner 1967: 99), which allows the government to formulate representations of liminality that are simultaneously distinctive and yet familiar to external audiences. Tourism promotion is prominent in Turkey' s nation branding efforts because it is a channel for communications with external audiences as well as an asset in economic development. Because Brand Turkey and its representations are discursive constructs, I employ a discourse analytical approach. Empirically, I deconstruct nation branding projects, such as TURQUALITY, and Olympics and Exposition bids, and Turkish tourism promotion posters, and films, to illustrate that Turkey's nation brand identity is liminal. Three modes construct representations of liminality, hybridity, juxtaposition and inbetweenness. Hybridity constructs Turkey as "both Eastern and Western", which is the conventional mode of liminality. Juxtaposition constructs "Turkey as "either Western or Eastern" depending on the audience's existing subject position. Inbetweenness, Turkey as "neither Western nor Eastern" is rooted in AK Party's formulation of Turkey as an "Anatolia-based civilisation" with unique political and cultural characteristics. In these modes, culture and heritage, and religion, rooted in Turkey's distinct geographic, history, and political (as both secular and Islamic) identity, are nodal points.

This thesis offers a new approach to the work of the British filmmaker Shane Meadows. In contradiction to the conventional reading of his work as part of the long tradition of social realism in British cinema, this thesis offers a new approach which argues that the term ‘liminal realism’ best describes both the in-between nature of the texts and Meadows’ place in British screen culture. In order to construct this alternative reading of Shane Meadows, this interdisciplinary study draws upon work from anthropology, folk culture and myth to describe the particular ways in which Meadows’ work demonstrates liminality, most especially via the Jungian archetype of the trickster. The thesis argues that the figure of the trickster describes the cultural construct of the filmmaker himself which can be described as being in-between, whether critically positioned between the mainstream and art-house; between the cultural imaginaries of the British north and the south, residing in the liminal elsewhere of the Midlands; and moving between autographical and biographical registers, arguing how he responds to that positioning with a tricksterish sensibility. Focusing on the ways in which masculinity and class are represented, the thesis explores the centrality of homosociality in Meadows’ work, explaining how it demonstrates a particular dynamic of desire which operates between men. The first chapter identifies the reason existing paradigms for Meadows inadequately describe the particular, liminal quality of both Meadows’ films and the positioning of the filmmaker himself. Chapter Two explores the tradition of social realism in British cinema and how it works as a discourse. It goes on to argue why this conventional paradigm is not adequate as a way of understanding Meadows’ work. Chapter Three demonstrates how the production of the films is liminal, positioned between art-house and commerce, and how a reading of the body of the filmmaker as a text is a productive way to approach the representation of masculinity and class. Chapter Four analyses the film texts using a Jungian archetypal framework to explain the ways in which they are liminal. The study concludes that Meadows can be best understood through the concept of liminal realism, a new paradigm with potentially wider applications for analyses of screen culture.

Although there has been extensive research into Shakespearean text and performance, visual responses (other than film) have received limited attention, and few fine artists have made a sustained engagement with Shakespeare. This series of paintings and accompanying commentary offer a lateral, imaginative response to the plays and their historical and contemporary contexts. My research is a visual exploration of ambiguity, liminality and transformation, investigated concurrently in terms of text, performance and painting. My primary context is Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, which has provided a crucial contextual and conceptual focus. During a period as Artist in Residence at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, I observed rehearsals and performances, and undertook research in the costume and prop stores, library and archives. My study has been much informed and stimulated by literary and historical research, and a significant aspect of the project has been to create an interdisciplinary dialogue, examining how theory and practice, the textual and the visual, inform each other. Various strands of research have emerged through practical and theoretical investigation: ideas of past and present; magic, supernatural and the uncanny; ambiguity of identity; costume and disguise. My examination of liminal states, boundaries and thresholds has enabled me to reflect on, and develop, many of the preoccupations and problems that lie behind my practice: the nature of silence, the translation of movement, the power of stillness and empty space, the nuances of meaning and perception inherent in the androgynous figure, and, as an overarching theme, liminality of both the theatrical and pictorial space.

Despite the frequency of use amongst scholars of IR, myth remains largely a term of colloquiality. However, this paper aims to argue that as a distinct temporal and normative structure within discourse, it is a powerful tool for understanding the ways in which narratives give meaning to political phenomena, not just by describing how they are, but how they ought to be. To explain the function of myth, a case study of Kosovo has been conducted. Much scholarly debate on the nature of internationally contested states exists, but we will make the argument that Kosovo is best understood as a being in a state of liminality, due to the conflicting nature of its political structures and foreign intervention. By joining the theory discourse of Laclau and Mouffe, with insights from psychoanalysis we suggest a framework for analysing the distinct nature of political myths. The utopian horizons of myth spell out two antagonistic narratives of sovereignty in Kosovo: one of European integration and market liberalisation, and one of unification with Albania.

An enduring aspect of any notion of community is a sense of being connected to others. It is the experience of communitas - in that sense of the word employed by Buber and later developed by Victor Turner - that brings a particular emphasis and persistence to this aspect of ‘belonging’ associated with community. The disparity between the hopeful ideas placed around community and the often much more chaotic and conflict ridden experience of actually being with others, suggests that communitas needs our consideration. This is particularly so if our involvement with community is to be driven not by a sense of nostalgia or utopian desire, but instead by intention to develop some agency amidst the gradients of power that surround and run through it. Communitas presents us with a particularly unfettered form of relationship, but one that occurs primarily in liminal environments. Commonly, liminal space is considered to be a moment in time between one state and another, a condition of ‘betwixt and between’. However, this observation avoids acknowledging that the function of liminal space is to provide participants with a reflexive environment, one removed from the normal parameters of social structures. Such a reflexive space, consciously entered and exited, can provide both community members and the community itself with the opportunity to more creatively engage with the world and its own contradictions and conflicts. Being able to move across the threshold into, and out of, liminal space, places considerable demands on those involved. My argument in this thesis, that liminality and communitas are integral to the functioning of community, leads to the proposal that negotiating the transition in and out of liminal environments requires community members to exercise a degree of individual reflective practice. Schőn’s concept of reflection-iniv action is proposed as a suitable meta-skill for operating in this way. Reflection-in-action bears an affinity with the sense of flow engendered by communitas; it also implies a readiness both to reframe questions and respond in an improvisational manner. These two gestures are required in order to meet the demands of liminality.

Although there has been extensive research into Shakespearean text and performance, visual responses (other than film) have received limited attention, and few fine artists have made a sustained engagement with Shakespeare. This series of paintings and accompanying commentary offer a lateral, imaginative response to the plays and their historical and contemporary contexts. My research is a visual exploration of ambiguity, liminality and transformation, investigated concurrently in terms of text, performance and painting. My primary context is Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, which has provided a crucial contextual and conceptual focus. During a period as Artist in Residence at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, I observed rehearsals and performances, and undertook research in the costume and prop stores, library and archives. My study has been much informed and stimulated by literary and historical research, and a significant aspect of the project has been to create an interdisciplinary dialogue, examining how theory and practice, the textual and the visual, inform each other. Various strands of research have emerged through practical and theoretical investigation: ideas of past and present; magic, supernatural and the uncanny; ambiguity of identity; costume and disguise. My examination of liminal states, boundaries and thresholds has enabled me to reflect on, and develop, many of the preoccupations and problems that lie behind my practice: the nature of silence, the translation of movement, the power of stillness and empty space, the nuances of meaning and perception inherent in the androgynous figure, and, as an overarching theme, liminality of both the theatrical and pictorial space.

This thesis analyzes the three texts forming the so-called „Fantastic trilogy‟ by Tommaso Landolfi: La pietra lunare (1939), Racconto d’autunno (1947) and Cancroregina (1950), in the light of the cultural and historical environment in which they were produced. I argue that these novellas incorporate and obliquely problematize specific tensions of the period running from Racial Laws (1938) and the Pact of Steel (1939) to post-war reconstruction. Building on recent scholarship on the subversive role of the Fantastic, the study provides a more comprehensive view of Landolfi‟s early production and challenges accepted views on his Fantastic as exclusively ironical, intellectual and free-play. This thesis also investigates the sources through which Landolfi delineates this oblique form of socio-political critique. Whereas scholarship in the past has widely recognized that Landolfi draws inspiration from nineteenth-century French, Russian and German classics in the genre of Gothic and Fantastic fiction, this contribution draws attention to the way Landolfi negotiates this traditional repertoire through input from both Italy‟s „high‟ literary tradition (Dante, Leopardi, Manzoni, D‟Annunzio), Italian folklore and other non-literary sources (i.e. occultism and psychiatry). This thesis considers Landolfi‟s work from fresh angles, applying recent Anglophone theoretical frameworks (including theories on post-humanism, on the subversive role of the Fantastic and political readings of Gothic fiction) to his writing and probing his portrayals of dynamics and tensions that continue to challenge us today. Additionally, it makes use of the anthropological notion of „liminality‟ to underline the intrinsic thematic, textual and narrative ambiguity of the three novellas. I claim that the texts‟ liminality – involving slippery entities, settings, situations and narrative modalities that do not fit any precise category – voices the cultural and political instability of the decade under analysis. The study makes a deeper, and more nuanced, contribution to the literature on Landolfi, reflecting upon the author‟s strategies for problematizing contemporary historical and cultural issues by means of a fiction only apparently detached from reality.

In my thesis, I aim to show that a focus on liminality in contemporary Scottish fictional texts illustrates underlying developments of relevant social phenomena with regard to class issues, gender and sexual identity. The anthropological concept of liminality looks at a situation of “being between”. The liminar faces a situation of having to renegotiate their values and perceptions in order to proceed. Liminality always involves the existence of limits which have to be transgressed and against which the individual negotiates a personal situation. I further hypothesise that the transgression of limits can be seen as an instrument to create order. I take an anthropological approach to my thesis. Arnold van Gennep’s early studies on rites of passage and Victor Turner’s study of liminality originate in the observation of tribe-internal, social structures of personal development. Van Gennep assumes a tripartite structure among which liminality is the middle stage, the phase in which the initiand has to perform tasks to re-enter and become part of the community. Turner isolates the middle stage and transfers this concept to western societies. This theory is taken up and developed further by several literary critics and anthropologists. While the transgression of limits is often regarded as a violation of those norms which regulate societies, the transgression of limits in a rite of passage and connected with liminality is a vital aspect and socially necessary. Several concepts are related to this theory, which will play a major role in my thesis: Turner’s permanent liminality, Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnivalesque as well as Foucault’s transgression. In the first chapter, I contrast two of Alasdair Gray’s novels, stating that the most powerful message of social and capitalist criticism is not just visible on the surface of the hyperbolic texts, but particularly prominent in liminal passages. The theories of Bakhtin and Turner plays the most important role in this chapter. In the second chapter, A. L. Kennedy’s novels are contrasted. In So I am Glad a difficult psycho-social issue is solved by a liminal trigger-figure, Paradise is an example of the destructive and restrictive effects of permanent liminality. In chapter three, I deal with the issue of passing and an individual redefinition of gender identity. The performativity of masculinity reveals ambiguous definitions of gender and morale. The Wasp Factory portrays a form of masculinity which has destructive effects on the individual and its environment. It is the tension in the liminal situation of a gender myth, a brutally performed masculinity and the character’s biological sex which expresses a harsh criticism of society’s definition of masculinity. In Trumpet, the binary model of gender is questioned. The text suggests a different definition of identity as fluid, passing between the two ‘extremes’, formulating the possibility of a state of being ‘something in-between’. It is the confrontation with this ‘otherness’ which provokes a wave of rejection and protest in the environment of the individual passing as a member of the ‘other sex’. In this case, it is not the obvious liminal individual, but his son who undergoes a process of change and thus a process of renegotiating his strict value system. The final chapter deals with liminal spaces and how these reflect and support the internal development which the protagonists undergo. The choice of Orkney as a mystical place and the fictional setting in a war game show that liminal spaces – both real and fictitious – trigger a personal development and reconnect present day life in Scotland with historical events which have had a shaping role for Scottish and European life.

Esta tesis examina la construcción de nuevos procomunes bajo condiciones de crisis, utilizando como estudio de caso los emprendimientos alternativos de base que han surgido en la Grecia urbana en contextos de crisis y se centran en el "procomún": ocupaciones de plazas, colectivos de trabajadores, clínicas y farmacias solidarias, cooperativas, cocinas solidarias y campamentos autoorganizados de refugiados. La disertación aborda cuestiones de organización, expansión, cierre, apertura, subjetividad, confianza y motivación en los proyectos del procomún, relaciona estos procesos con las condiciones de crisis y emergencia y explora las transformaciones que surgen en la creación y sustento de nuevos procomunes en tales contextos. Enfoca en el potencial de transformación que estas experiencias poseen para individuos, grupos, sociedades locales e incluso países. Para abordar estos temas, la tesis desarrolla un marco teórico denominado "el procomún liminal". Establece un paralelismo entre los ritos de paso observados por antropólogos en sociedades arcaicas, los cuales introducen los participantes en una etapa liminal, y la dinámica transicional de los nuevos procomunes. La tesis sostiene que hay procomunes que actúan como rituales modernos, mediante los cuales personas y colectivos que, a causa de la crisis, han perdido su identidad buscan y forman una nueva identidad. Los procomunes liminales son formas transicionales del procomún que no tienen como objetivo perdurar en el tiempo, sino posibilitar transiciones. En este aspecto se diferencian de los tipos más estables del procomún examinados por las teorías establecidas. Esta tesis explora estas divergencias y diferenciaciones y trata de explicar cómo estos procomunes temporales pueden dar lugar a estructuras más estables. También sugiere que, debido a su naturaleza distinta, el “éxito” de los procomunes liminales no se puede evaluar según los criterios establecidos por las teorías existentes. Cada capítulo empírico desarrolla un tema teórico central. A lo largo del texto, el lector es guiado a través de diferentes teorías respecto al procomún, la crisis y la liminalidad, así como a través de diversos estudios de caso provenientes de Grecia. La tesis pretende crear un "umbral" teórico donde diferentes teorías se fecundan mutuamente para intentar comprender un fenómeno social insuficientemente teorizado. El argumento final de esta tesis es que el procomún liminal tiene un gran potencial de transformación a diferentes niveles y escalas, desde el nivel molecular del individuo hasta el macronivel de la sociedad.
This thesis examines the making of new commons under conditions of crisis, using as a case study alternative grassroots ventures that have emerged in urban Greece in contexts of crisis and have "commoning" at their heart: occupied squares, solidarity clinics and pharmacies, cooperatives, workers’ collectives, solidarity food structures and self-organized refugee camps. The dissertation addresses issues of organization, expansion, closure, openness, subjectivity, trust and motivation in commoning endeavors, relates these processes with the conditions of crisis and emergency and explores the transformations in the creation and sustenance of new commons in such contexts. The focus is on the transformative potential of these experiences for individuals, groups, local societies and even large-scale formations such as countries. To approach those issues, the thesis develops a theoretical framework called “the liminal commons". It draws a parallel between the rituals of passage observed by anthropologists in archaic societies, in which participants went through a phase of liminality, and the transitional dynamics of new commons. The thesis argues that there are commons that act as modern rituals, whereby people and collectives who on account of the crisis have lost their core identity search for and form a new identity. The liminal commons are transitional forms of commoning that do not aspire to endure for long but to facilitate transitions. In this respect, they differ from the more stable forms of commoning usually examined by commons theories. This thesis explores these divergences and differentiations and tries to explain how these temporal commons can give rise to more stable structures. It also suggests that, due to their distinct nature, the “success” of liminal commons cannot be assessed against the criteria established by existing theories. Each empirical chapter develops a core theoretical topic. Throughout the text, the reader is walked through different theories on the commons, crisis and liminality, as well as through diverse case studies from Greece. The thesis aims to create a theoretical “threshold” in which different theories cross-fertilize to make sense of an undertheorized social phenomenon. The final argument of this thesis is that the liminal commons have a great transformative potential at different levels and scales, from the molecular level of the individual to the macro level of society.

In this essay I refer Eilis Ni Dhuibhne’s narrative construction of the main characters and the theme of the novel The Dancers Dancing, in the context of the anthropologist Victor Turner’s concept of liminality. Thus the summer in the Gaeltacht that five teenage girls experience, can be understood as a depiction of the liminal phase in a rite of passage. Ni Dhuibhne’s differently constructed characters enlighten different aspects of liminality and through the céilí dance their experiences are exposed. Furthermore this essay suggests that Julia Kristeva’s notion of the chora, which can be associated to dance, is also relevant when describing the unbounded and unlimited process that radically can reform social structures. I conclude that the liminal space offers an area of many possibilities. It functions as a free zone where the main characters can freely explore their personal issues that trouble them, or the difficulties of their own society.

In the 1920s, Philippine infant mortality campaigns called into question Filipino women’s capacity to care as both mothers and nurses. Therefore the campaign required a two-step process of first remodeling elite Filipino women as nurses who would then transfer their knowledge to mothers. In order to address the needs of the people, nurse education needed to be remodeled. Therefore, the colonial government partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) to remodel Philippine nursing through an experimental system that emphasized university training and specialization in public health. Even though the Foundation wanted to prove the universality of this system it was inevitably hampered by local conditions in the Philippines. It would take two decades for a university nurse training system to finally take shape. Although it took years for the university system to be established offshoots of the original program did take root, particularly the RF fellowship program that sponsored Filipino nurses to temporarily migrate to the U.S. to study abroad. By examining a variety of sources, including RF records, letters, newspapers, dissertations and conference transcripts, this paper considers the role Filipino student nurses played in infant mortality campaigns. Filipino nurses sought U.S. training, in order to have their medical authority recognized, but in seeking recognition within a system that saw Filipino nurses as inherently inferior due to their race, gender, and profession meant that their authority would perpetually be called into question. For Filipino nurses that took part in the colonial medical project they occupied a liminal space that both simultaneously validated and invalidated their knowledge. The dilemma of recognition was an issue that all Filipino migrants in the U.S. faced which created a constant state of surveillance within the community abroad. While some crumbled under the pressure of constant policing other Filipinos used it challenge the U.S. colonial project. At infant mortality health conferences, Filipino medical practitioners asserted their own medical authority. Even though these conferences were the same sites where both colonial and native medical practitioners invalidated nurse knowledge, nurses used it to legitimize native authority and the medical authority of women.

The focus of this study is revelation at the limits of communication. It considers the way in which (biblical) apocalyptic literature prominently figures the interconnection between liminality, revelation, and representation. The methodology asserts an indissoluble association between theology, philosophy and literature. As such it is interdisciplinary. A preliminary theory (and theology) of liminality interweaves the theological and philosophical contributions of, amongst others, Karl Barth, Graham Ward, Jürgen Moltmann and Jacques Derrida, thereby initiating a revised perspective on the constitution of literary apocalyptic text production and interpretation. Theorising the limen begins to describe the Trinitarian economy at work in Christian apocalyptic processing of scripture. I begin with the idea that revelation (apokalypsis) is the experience of the limen itself (in a coincidence of opposites). Thus the limen (as an actively divine space) incorporates that which stands on both sides, in vertical and horizontal, linear and cyclical, spatial and temporal movements. I then propose that apocalyptic literature re-presents this complex economy in which the end is rehearsed simultaneously as limit, threshold, and rupture. Theologically, this complicates inter-relational notions of ‘apocalyptic’ and eschatology, and stimulates a debate on a metaphysics of violence in communication (between God, man and Creation). I conclude that, at the extreme limit of human understanding (where words fail), those with faith in God’s love are opened out to revelation in the apocalyptic textual performance of the liminal economy, and thus to hope and forgiveness. Stressing the importance of reading apocalyptically, I begin to demonstrate the relationship between Christian-canonical narratives and the broader western literary canon, the critical process having invited an exploration of those literary characteristics (of tone, mode and genre) shared by (biblical, modern and postmodern) texts. An important principle in the literary analyses is the association between apocalyptic text production and hermeneutics. Christopher Rowland’s description of a ‘visionary mode’ explains how this process works. Thus the preliminary theory leads into a close reading of recent Russian and American works by Mikhail Bulgakov and Thomas Pynchon. These are compared to, and worked through, Mark’s and John’s gospels and the Book of Revelation. The interpretative approach widens the often self-limiting study of apocalyptic literature, and broadens theological debate on revelation. Thus it begins to show how the rhetoric of apocalyptic makes belief compelling.

This thesis explores the notion of ‘experimental voice’ in avant-garde performance, in the way it transgresses conventional forms of vocal expression as a means of both extending and enhancing the expressive capabilities of the voice, and reframing the social and political contexts in which these voices are heard. I examine these avant-garde voices in relation to three different liminal contexts in which the voice plays a central role: in ritual vocal expressions, such as Greek lament and Māori karanga, where the voice forms a bridge between the living and the dead; in electroacoustic music and film, where the voice is dissociated from its source body and can be heard to resound somewhere between human and machine; and from a psychoanalytic perspective, where the voice may bring to consciousness the repressed fears and desires of the unconscious. The liminal phase of ritual performance is a time of inherent possibility, where the usual social structures are inverted or subverted, but the liminal is ultimately temporary and conservative. Victor Turner suggests the concept of the ‘liminoid’ as a more transgressive alternative to the liminal, allowing for permanent and lasting social change. It may be in the liminoid realm of avant-garde performance that voices can be reimagined inside the frame of performance, as a means of exploring new forms of expression in life. This thesis comes out of my own experience as a performer and is informed both by theoretical discourse and practical experimentation in the theatre. Exploring the voice as a liminal, transgressive force requires analysis from an experiential perspective.

Paracosms, or imaginary worlds, are phenomena only recently taken into account by the field of psychology, with only a smattering of publications on the topic. Whereas previous research has focused primarily on paracosms’ creative contributions to society, the perspective of this thesis postulates the value and role of the paracosm as it serves the internal system of the psyche. The paracosm is explored in its self-preserving function: an internal world that the psyche builds to replicate the infantile experience of wholeness through contact with a continuous selfobject. In this way the psyche is seen as maintaining itself through imaginal involvement in a paracosm, mirroring the self as world, when there is no external selfobject available. Hermeneutic and heuristic approaches utilize both the research of previous theorists and the author’s reflections on her own paracosmic activity in discussing the positive and negative aspects of paracosms as a psychological, trauma-related coping mechanism.

Over the last forty years, we have witnessed the birth of a new phenomenon in the Western world, that of 'the dream retirement. ' This study examines a group of (mainly) Northern European older people who move to Spain in search of the culmination of their life-project. Following years of working to the clock they move away from the 'rat-race' to find warmth, good health, company, friendship and enjoyment. Yet [...] the experience is often judged negatively by outsiders. The Costa is portrayed as a slightly unreal world, a liminal zone beyond the 'normal' realm of work. This thesis, an ethnographic exploration of life for older migrants in Spain takes seriously this 'unreal' world. It explores the negotiation of the designated 'free-time' at the end of the working life. The creation of retirement at a determined legal cut-off point has forced a separation between working identities and identities in the life beyond, which previously had (if at all) a ragged boundary between them. In short, it is a modern-day rite of passage. Now, as retirement approaches, new questions come to the fore. Where should we retire? How do we negotiate that culturally created 'time off' at the end of the working years? Do we find satisfaction, companionship, hope and fulfilment of dreams? Perhaps more mundanely,what do we actually do with that time? This thesis is an ethnographic study devoted to exploring the lives and worlds of older people who, in answering the above questions, chose to migrate to Spain from Northern Europe. Its focus is the new brand of 'woopies' (well off older persons) seeking the 'rewards' of leisure following a lifetime of working. They enter an interstitial space devoted to the pursuit of adult play. The thesis interrogates the reality of such rewards, looking at the tensions inherent in the 'freedom' sought within utopian spaces such as Spain. I reveal how the imagined freedoms necessitate some form of regulation, and I employ a re-examination of anthropological models of ritual to do so.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
Introduced in 2010, the Dispensation Zimbabwe Program (DZP) regularised undocumented Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa. When DZP was closed, the Zimbabwe Special Permit was introduced, which was also replaced by the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit. This thesis examines the lived experiences of Zimbabwean migrants from the time they arrived in South Africa without papers, visas, or permits. It then examines the processes of acquiring DZP papers, processes of replacing it, and how conditions on the permits reinforce a particular notion of belonging for Zimbabwean immigrants. I draw on work inspired by the anthropologist Victor Turner’s (1967) concept of liminality to show that Zimbabwean migrants had been going through various phases of uncertain legal statuses which are all liminal. Through accounts of lived experiences and biographical narratives of migrants who see themselves as ‘entrepreneurs’ in Cape Town, I consider how migrant’s experience the structural effects of documentation and having or not having ‘papers’. It starts with a state of “illegality” because of being an undocumented migrant in South Africa. It proceeds to “amnesty” from deportation following the announcement of DZP. It then proceeds to the filling of application forms for legalisation at Home Affairs. The DZP permits make them “liminal citizens” in that they got political citizenship by virtue of being documented, but at the same time, the migrants do not enjoy full citizenship status economically. There is also “legal suspension” as in the period between applications for replacement of the permit with another for example from Zimbabwe Special Permit (ZSP) to Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP). The imposition of conditions in permits that it will not be renewed or extended throws them into a condition of “temporary conditional legality”. As a result, the liminality experienced is both existential and juridical. Juridical liminality results from uncertain legal status whether the migrant is documented or not. Juridical liminality is inherent in law and immigration policy. Existential liminality is because the uncertain legal status permeates all aspects of Zimbabwean immigrants’ lives and delimits their range of action in different spheres. This includes jobs, transnational capabilities, business, family, housing, and schooling for their children. Most studies on migration do not extend their arguments beyond that permits matter as they see them as giving immediate access to social and economic rights. In this thesis, I do not only examine how a condition of being an undocumented immigrant shapes aspects of immigrants’ lives but I further examine the experiences of living with temporary visas and their impact on their lives and family. Whereas in a rite of passage, the liminal stage is temporary, Zimbabweans in South Africa are living in chronic liminality. In all phases of liminal legality, the thesis demonstrates state power through documents/visas in shaping migrant lives deepening our understanding of immigrant incorporation, exclusion, citizenship and belonging.

As a point of political and ethical contestation in U.S. American discourse, the “abortion debate” asks us to consider questions of choice, life, morality, and identity embedded with/in unequivocally conflicting axiological matrices. Consequentially, women who’ve had abortions are left caught in-between the cultural chasm between stigmatizing discourses. Framing abortion narratives within Turner’s (1969) conceptualization of liminality, this project aims to nuance the conversation from a performative autoethnographic orientation (Spry, 2011) which attends to ethical, aesthetic, and epistemic dimensions of narrative (re)construction. Layered narrative and poetic fragments (re)constitute the ruptured “truthfulness” of my abortion experience (Žižek, 2008) while (re)centering epistemological foundations of abortion discourse through subjugated corporeal knowledges (Foucault, 1980). By “talking back” (hooks, 1989) to neoliberal postfeminist discourses, this autoethnographic project seeks to performatively (re)construct the abortion experience through a language of liminality and explore the potentials of an alternative “imaginary” (Irigaray, 1991; Cixous, 1976, 1998).

Drawing from all his published works, this dissertation will explore the oeuvre of American writer Ben Lerner. The main thread of analysis will be the concept of liminality, of being on the threshold, as it emerges particularly from Lerner’s novels Leaving the Atocha Station (2011), 10:04 (2014) and from the three volumes of verses collected in the book No Art: Poems (2016). Lerner’s poems and prose works will be examined altogether, in the sense, suggested by critic Dean Katz and writer Tao Lin, to read Lerner’s work as a sort of progressing project in which prose and poems have the same importance and are in dialogue one with the other. The blurring of facts and fiction, the opposition of actuality and virtuality – as derived from Allen Grossman’s writings in The Long Schoolroom – will be used as a lens in order to try to understand what Lerner is trying to do with his writing. It seems that this being “between two mirrors,” that of the actual and the virtual, of fiction and facts, of the individual and the community, is something that allows the writer to produce a new, original work of art. Lerner acts as a sort of curator of a museum who puts together different genres and styles from this position of liminality that can be defined, to borrow Marianne Moore’s line from her eponymous and famous poem, “a place for the genuine.”

I fenomeni che provocano repulsione e paura all’interno di un contesto sociale sono spesso dimessi, ignorati o temuti per la loro intrinseca difficoltà di catalogazione. Tema fondamentale dell’elaborato è proprio lo studio, in chiave antropologica, della condizione di liminalità e di come questa si dispieghi nella morte, nel mito e nella religione del subcontinente indiano. Attenzione verrà posta, in particolare, agli sviluppi sociali che seguono suddetta fase transitoria, analizzando approfonditamente il processo del rituale e attingendo sia da fonti dell'India più classica che da quelle sull'esoterismo e sul buddhismo. Scopo finale della tesi è dimostrare come un sistema, per concretizzarsi pienamente, debba venire a patti o accettare necessariamente un'alterità mostruosa, dove la parola "mostro" verrà intesa nel senso latino del termine, come un qualcosa di "prodigioso" e "potente", ma anche temibile, al di fuori della sfera umana.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Feb. 29, 2008). Directed by Steve Kroll-Smith; submitted to the Dept. of Sociology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-65).

In his 1952 text Key to Modern Poetry, Lawrence Durrell describes “the whole universe of ideas” as “a universe perpetually shifting, changing its relations and tenses as verbs do in speech, altering its outlines”. The construction of such a sense of flux, with constant change superseding stability, is also one I recognise in Durrell’s major novels, what he has called his “opus”: The Black Book, The Alexandria Quartet, The Revolt of Aphrodite, and The Avignon Quintet. This thesis considers changeability in Durrell’s major novels to offer a series of readings tied together by the philosophy of William James as well as the writings on liminality by Victor Turner and Arnold van Gennep. Turner’s sense of liminality is one that is fruitful: the liminal stage of the rite of passage not only problematises structural categorisations, but it also offers interface among them. Far from a unidirectional construction, the liminal stage presents an upheaval and indeterminacy that can work to strengthen or weaken a sense of movement along a linear construction. I approach Durrell’s opus from a number of these linear constructions – each warranting its own theoretical model – looking first at the relationship of the subject and object, secondly at that of fiction and reality, thirdly at geographical locales, fourthly at considerations of time, and finally at the placement of the opus along the construction of modernist and postmodernist trends. Ultimately, this sense of the liminal is one that in Durrell’s writing offers an extended range of theoretical consideration, opening the idea of transition between any two states as one that can outwardly influence those states.

This thesis explores how Beatrice Culleton's In Search of April Raintree, JoyKogawa's Obasan, and Michael Ondaatje's Running in the Family trouble, by emulating and transgressing the protocols of the literary autobiography, formulations of the historical "subject" aligned to those conventions. Consequently, the primary site of interpretation of this thesis is the delineation of the se texts' narrators as "subjects" who both write and are written by history. This thesis will demonstrate how these "autobiographical fictions" in scribe histories which question "official" accounts and probe gender and race articulations both within those official inscriptions as weIl as in their own historically constructed communities. These textual (dis )placements are interpreted in the context of the critical discourses of postmodernism and post-colonialism.
Cette thèse examine comment les ouvrages In Search of April Raintree, de Beatrice Culleton, Obasan, de Joy Kogawa, et Running in the Family, de Michael Ondaatje, perturbent, par leur respect et leur transgression des règles de l'autobiographie littéraire, les formulations du "sujet" historique liées aux conventions propres à ce genre. Le site principal d'interprétation réside donc dans la délimitation des contours des narrateurs de ces textes en tant que "sujets" qui, tout à fois, écrivent l'histoire et sont écrits par elle. Cette thèse démontre que ces "fictions autobiographiques" inscrivent des récits qui remettent en question les comptes rendus "officiels" et examinent les articulations au sexe et à la "race", tant à l'intérieur de ces inscriptions officielles que dans leurs propres collectivités historiquement constituées. Ces dé(placements) textuels sont interprétés à la lumière des discours critiques du post-modernisme et du post-colonialisme. fr