Liminality in books, nature, and children

Children, books, and nature all share the common thread of liminality. Children are in a liminal state between childhood and adulthood; books are in a liminal state between fantasy and reality; and nature is in a liminal state between civilization and savagery, and also between the beautiful and the sublime.

(I already discussed children in a previous blog, so I'll move on to books.) Books are inherently liminal because they hold ideas that are written down and describe something that is not usually right in front of the reader's face. They embody the state between the reader's world and the writer's world. A book is also an enabler of liminality, making it possible to be suspended between reality and the willing suspension of disbelief. It is an instrument of a transition of information.

Nature exists in a liminal state between civilization and savagery, although until fairly recently, nature was usually identified with the latter. Nature is clearly not civlization, as civilization is constantly at odds with nature, trying to make room for itself in the world. However, nature is not quite savagery either, as civilization could not survive without nature. And the last few times I've gone hiking or camping, I was not devoured by it.

Also, nature exists in a liminal state between the beautiful and the sublime. Nature is symmetrical and rounded and pretty in a very quaint way, and so it is beautiful. Nature is also asymmetrical and overwhelming and awe-striking, and so it is sublime. How can this be, when beautiful and sublime are at opposite ends of a dichotomy? First, as Derrida said, opposite ends of a dichotomy are not actually opposites, but defined in terms of their opposites, and intimately interwoven with each other. Male would not exist without female; West would not exist without East; civilization would not exist without savagery and nature; and the beautiful would not exist without the sublime. Second, nature is neither and both ends of a dichotomy because it is liminal. That is what children, books, and nature have in common. And maybe that is why when I was a little girl, I used to hike up in the mountains behind my house, find a nice spot in the trees, and read a book.

To expand your knowledge of liminality, go to http://www.liminality.org/about/whatisliminality/