Liminal Spaces - Detailed Presentation

Ok, so here's some more detailed info about my research on LSs and I'll repeat some stuff to recap/make it extra clear. Sorry if this is quite a long blog, I'll try to be as concise as possible.

What are LSs?

• Spaces that cannot be defined as relational, historical or concerned with identity; for example, hotels, train stations, jails, shopping malls, etc. Also known as 'non-places'.
• Typically, they are spaces formed in relation to certain ends, such as transport, commerce and leisure areas.

How do LSs concern us?

• Many anthropologists and philosophers connect feelings of homesickness and dissatisfaction with modern living to the struggle to find 'places' in a world increasingly filled with 'non-places'. Suspect Culture focus on the difficulties of living in a contemporary world.
• So much of contemporary life is about expansion and development: multinational companies; quicker, more accurate media; more efficient technology. While these serve to create more links in this world, ultimately we feel more isolated, more lost.

Possible areas to investigate:

1. Effect of using LSs
   - Travelling; trains, buses, aeroplanes boats, cars, etc.
   - Temporary living; hotels, hostels, boats, caravans, etc.
   - Extended living; Nomadic peoples, prisoners, astronauts, students, etc.
   - Travel sickness; Akan civilisations (see my A Little Anthropology post).
2. LSs and language
   - While language between people of different cultures can be a barrier, concerning LSs, a text' is developed between the organisation and the traveller to establish a link; for example, signs, maps, city guides, instructions, etc. all use a kind of hollow text ('Do not smoke', 'Flight 232 is ready for boarding', etc.) to reach the traveller.
   - This 'text' becomes a symbol for LSs, which could be used in the design aspect of our piece; for example, signs and maps could be placed about the stage, bombarding the characters, or sparking off home/travel sickness responses in them.
3. False familiarities
   -Marc Augé believes we develop false familiarities with LSs; such as when we recognise a brand logo, or when we almost create new languages for certain technology (think texting abbreviations).
   - These false familiarities give us the impression of connection and affinity, but ultimately provide us with nothing substantial in terms of the search for home.
   - However, there is a contradiction here, as some argue that LSs can actually decrease homesickness, because paradoxically:

   'A foreigner lost in a country he does not know can feel at home there only in the anonymity of the motorways, service stations, big stores or hotel chains. For him, an oil company logo is a reassuring landmark; among the supermarket shelves he falls with relief on sanitary, household or food products validated by multinational brand names.' (p. 106)

   - So a question for our piece could be: Are these false familiarities good or bad?
4. Time and LSs
   - In LSs, the focus is solely on the present. Non-places have no history or background, only current usefulness.
   - Everything proceeds as if space had been trapped by time, as if there were no history other than the last 48 hours of news. (Page 104)
   - Our piece could explore people trapped in this time warp like in Groundhog Day.
5. Identity and LSs
   - Identity is a central concept because when you're at an airport or train station, you have to first prove your identity before you can board and feel anonymous, like just a part of the crowd, another non-descript passenger (see my comment on Dan's Homes Nowhere post).
   - While this can be liberating, it can also be very lonely. We could explore the idea of being alone in a crowd.
   - Also, Augé describes how '[we experience] the passive joys of identity-loss, and the more active pleasure of role-playing.' (p. 103) This links to our experience of theatre and the stage: the ultimate LS!
   - If we wanted, we could explore the role of the stage: its freedoms and restrictions; how it helps us feel at home; how it heightens homesickness. However, this is a huge topic and may be rather challenging as it can get very anthropological, but if anyone's interested, Victor Turner's The Anthropology of Performance could give us some ideas.

And that's it! All the quotes I have used are from Marc Augé, Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity, Translated by John Howe, London: Verso, 1995.

Alice Hansen