Betwixt And Between: The Liminal Period In Rites De Passage
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In Victor Turner’s work Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage, he discusses the idea of liminality within rites of passage in society. Taken from the concept of ‘rites de passage’ by Van Gennep Turner explores the idea of the ‘liminal period’. Turner sees the transitional nature of rites of passage as a process rather than a fixed state of being; he describes it as “a relatively fixed or stable condition”, which then holds different cultural properties to that of a state (Turner, 1969, p93). Turner describes how Gennep saw that rites of passage occurred in all changes of place, state, social position and age, which consisted of three defined periods. Firstly, separation; whereby the subject is removed from their original place of being and group. Margin (limen) where the subject is described as having no particular place, a sense of being between stations stripped of all cultural ties. Lastly, is the period of aggregation where the passage is consummated and the subject returns to a structured society now holding a new place in its make-up. Turner argues that rites of…show more content… The period of separation comes in the form of voting; where the public are asked to remove themselves from the current and think ahead to what future could be and make a decision. The margin or liminal period is very similar to that of the candidates. The votes have been cast, and the public no longer have control, it is simply the majority that will win. This carries over into the transition period which sees the end of one regime and the beginnings of another. Although less aligned to Turner’s concepts of being emotionally betwixed and between, the country do physically encounter the idea of ambiguity and the identity of a collective force that transcends age, sex and