The liminal body: Space, place, time, and sexuality


Tristan Nkoghe, Concordia University

Through the concept of liminality, I explore the body as place and space—two entities necessarily intertwined, and yet offering distinct ontological answers to questions surrounding sexuality, intimacy, and identity. Liminality, as a transitional and in-between conceptual tool, is defined and utilized in order to explore the body, its various meanings, and understandings. Liminality was first introduced by Arnold van Gennep as a concept in the field of anthropology in order to explore and study societal rites of passages and the changing status of people within communities and tribes. He understood it as a period of transition in the middle of two overarching societal and/or individual states. For example, he found that in certain tribes and small-scale societies, boys only became men when they left the tribe for a period of time to live and fend on their own and by themselves. It is only when they came back from this societal hiatus that they could then be considered as men amongst their peers. Liminality has since been adopted in both the social sciences and the humanities. The malleability of the concept as well as its relevance in the aftermath of postmodernism and the post-Truth era lend itself well to identifying theoretical and ontological problems that have risen since liminality was first introduced. The ambiguousness of experiences, the transitional nature of social status and relationships, and the in-betweenness it highlights move away from fixed and rigid understandings of the social world. Therefore, liminality allows for a freeing and creative approach to contemporary problems—problems that cannot be answered with the either/or dichotomy. In a lot of instances, the answer resides somewhere between the both/and realm. In geography studies, and especially with Yi-Fu Tuan, the concepts of space and place have gained traction and have been theorized and explored in myriad ways identifying their similarities and differences. However, both space and place have often been discussed in terms of locality, urban planning, and the environment on macro- and micro-scales. In this research, I apply much of the theoretical underpinnings of space and place of geography but apply them to the body—as an instance of both place and space. This novel understanding of the body introduces the uncertainties of liminality and the constraining and liberating qualities of space and place in order to problematize how we relate to our body, as well as understand its social role. Through interpretive social science, sociology of the body, and cultural anthropology, I present the liminal body as an expression of space and place. The role of time in this theoretical framework is closely linked to context. Not only immediate and apparent context, but also the overarching structures mediating encounters and relationships. Time, in its micro- and macro-considerations therefore informs and alters how the body is embodied and perceived. Nakedness in communal showers is embodied and felt differently than nakedness in the comfort of one’s bedroom or within the intimacy of relationships. The continually changing and morphing relationships of people with their body highlights the inherent complexity of the body as well as its intimate relationship with space, place, and time. Essentially, theorizing the liminal body presents the embodied experience of everyday life through its ambiguousness and uncertainties, linking the contingencies of space, place, and time as meaningful markers of the transitional nature of the body. The social, economic, and gendered dynamics of interactions come to manipulate, play with, disrupt, create, and alter the bodies in ways not always anticipated, and sometimes in liberating fashion. The agency offered to time, space, and place in this theoretical context lend themselves well to the session’s emphasis on social processes in the contexts of everyday life. The focused approach on the body as a site and symbol of space and place moves the perspective of space and place as being exterior to the body to seeing it as an embodied component of it. Through this ontological novelty, it becomes possible to relate to our body in evolving ways and understand our relationships with other bodies as constantly evolving.

This paper will be presented at the following session: