In-Between – Liminal Spaces in Canadian Literature and Cultures
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Edited By Stefan L. Brandt
In the past few years, the concept of «liminality» has become a kind of pet theme within the discipline of Cultural Studies, lending itself to phenomena of transgression and systemic demarcation. This anthology employs theories of liminality to discuss Canada’s geographic and symbolic boundaries, taking its point of departure from the observation that «Canada» itself, as a cultural, political, and geographic entity, encapsulates elements of the «liminal.» The essays comprised in this volume deal with fragmented and contradictory practices in Canada, real and imagined borders, as well as contact zones, thresholds, and transitions in Anglo-Canadian and French-Canadian texts, discussing topics such as the U.S./Canadian border, migration, French-English relations, and encounters between First Nations and settlers.
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- Frankfurt am Main, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2017. 260 pp., 3 ill.
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Canadian Cultural Imaginary and Its Liminal Aesthetics (Stefan L. Brandt)
- I. Liminal Landscapes
- Tripping on the Threshold; Groping in the Dark (Aritha van Herk)
- II. Canadian ‘Thirdspace’ – Nation, Language, and Immigration
- Inhabiting Trishanku in Canada: Threshold Experience in the Oeuvre of M.G. Vassanji (Shilpa Daithota Bhat)
- ‘Exclaveness’ and Liminality: Materialities and Rhetorics of Place at the Canadian Border (Peter Goggin)
- Subversion and Self-Definition in Montréal Novels by Dany Laferrière and Rawi Hage (Derek C. Maus)
- III. Ambiguous Fictions – Liminality in the Canadian Novel
- “… beyond the invisible barrier at Portage and Main”: Liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death (Bernhard Wenzl)
- “not quite human, not quite wolf, but something in between”: Liminal Spaces in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach (Patrizia Zanella)
- IV. Hyphenated Canada? Indigenous Voices and Hybrid Identities
- Painting (the) In-Between: Twentieth-Century Indigenous Border Art at Glacier/Waterton National Parks (Alexandra Ganser)
- Narrative Dynamics of Liminality in Naomi Fontaine’s Kuessipan (2011) (Jeanette den Toonder)
- Documenting Oral History and Lessons in Truth Telling in Nadia McLaren’s Muffins for Granny and Tim Wolochatiuk’s We Were Children (Sabrina Völz)
- V. Blurry Visions – Canadian Arts and Liminality
- Abstraction and Mysticism in Bertram Brooker’s Paintings and Novels (Katalin Kürtösi)
- Diane Schoemperlen’s By the Book: Stories and Pictures – Fragments in Contrapuntal Unity (Nikola Tutek)
- VI. Final Thresholds – Loss, Memory, and Dying
- The Melancholy of Urban Childhood: Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes (Martina Horakova)
- The Politics of Memory and Longing in Kim Thúy’s Ru (Andreea Catrinela Lazăr)
- The Intriguing Liminality of Dying in Keefer’s “Going Over the Bars” (Vesna Lopičić)
- VII. Poetical Observations – Canada as Art
- The Trading Post: Betwixt Wilderness and Civilization (Claire E. Smerdon)
- Poems (George Elliott Clarke)
- Contributors
- Series Index
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Canadian Cultural Imaginary and Its Liminal Aesthetics (Stefan L. Brandt)
- I. Liminal Landscapes
- Tripping on the Threshold; Groping in the Dark (Aritha van Herk)
- II. Canadian ‘Thirdspace’ – Nation, Language, and Immigration
- Inhabiting Trishanku in Canada: Threshold Experience in the Oeuvre of M.G. Vassanji (Shilpa Daithota Bhat)
- ‘Exclaveness’ and Liminality: Materialities and Rhetorics of Place at the Canadian Border (Peter Goggin)
- Subversion and Self-Definition in Montréal Novels by Dany Laferrière and Rawi Hage (Derek C. Maus)
- III. Ambiguous Fictions – Liminality in the Canadian Novel
- “… beyond the invisible barrier at Portage and Main”: Liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death (Bernhard Wenzl)
- “not quite human, not quite wolf, but something in between”: Liminal Spaces in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach (Patrizia Zanella)
- IV. Hyphenated Canada? Indigenous Voices and Hybrid Identities
- Painting (the) In-Between: Twentieth-Century Indigenous Border Art at Glacier/Waterton National Parks (Alexandra Ganser)
- Narrative Dynamics of Liminality in Naomi Fontaine’s Kuessipan (2011) (Jeanette den Toonder)
- Documenting Oral History and Lessons in Truth Telling in Nadia McLaren’s Muffins for Granny and Tim Wolochatiuk’s We Were Children (Sabrina Völz)
- V. Blurry Visions – Canadian Arts and Liminality
- Abstraction and Mysticism in Bertram Brooker’s Paintings and Novels (Katalin Kürtösi)
- Diane Schoemperlen’s By the Book: Stories and Pictures – Fragments in Contrapuntal Unity (Nikola Tutek)
- VI. Final Thresholds – Loss, Memory, and Dying
- The Melancholy of Urban Childhood: Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes (Martina Horakova)
- The Politics of Memory and Longing in Kim Thúy’s Ru (Andreea Catrinela Lazăr)
- The Intriguing Liminality of Dying in Keefer’s “Going Over the Bars” (Vesna Lopičić)
- VII. Poetical Observations – Canada as Art
- The Trading Post: Betwixt Wilderness and Civilization (Claire E. Smerdon)
- Poems (George Elliott Clarke)
- Contributors
- Series Index
“… beyond the invisible barrier at Portage and Main”: Liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death (Bernhard Wenzl)
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← 90 | 91 →
Bernhard Wenzl
“… beyond the invisible barrier at Portage and Main”: Liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death
Abstract: This essay focuses on individual and collective forms of liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death. Set in early twentieth-century Winnipeg, the 1957 immigrant novel explores liminal experiences related to ethnic identity, male sexuality, social class, urban spaces and turbulent economic times. As the son of a poor working-class family from Hungary, Sandor Hunyadi makes every effort to become a true Canadian and a successful businessman, but, no matter how hard he tries to overcome contemporary ethnic prejudices and economic hardships, his personal and professional life remains in liminality. In other words, the protagonist undergoes separation, fails at incorporation, and becomes stuck in transition.
Introduction
Liminality1 is a central motif of John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death.2 First published by McClelland and Stewart in 1957, the two-part novel explores the lives of East European immigrants in western Canada. Set in Winnipeg before and after the First World War, it focuses on the personal and professional experiences of Sandor Hunyadi. As the teenage son of a Hungarian family, he grows up in the working-class neighbourhood of the North End. Faced with poverty at home and prejudice at school, he strives to gain wealth and recognition in Canadian society. With his mind set on becoming a successful businessman, he adopts an English name, takes commercial courses at...
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Or login to access all content.- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Canadian Cultural Imaginary and Its Liminal Aesthetics (Stefan L. Brandt)
- I. Liminal Landscapes
- Tripping on the Threshold; Groping in the Dark (Aritha van Herk)
- II. Canadian ‘Thirdspace’ – Nation, Language, and Immigration
- Inhabiting Trishanku in Canada: Threshold Experience in the Oeuvre of M.G. Vassanji (Shilpa Daithota Bhat)
- ‘Exclaveness’ and Liminality: Materialities and Rhetorics of Place at the Canadian Border (Peter Goggin)
- Subversion and Self-Definition in Montréal Novels by Dany Laferrière and Rawi Hage (Derek C. Maus)
- III. Ambiguous Fictions – Liminality in the Canadian Novel
- “… beyond the invisible barrier at Portage and Main”: Liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death (Bernhard Wenzl)
- “not quite human, not quite wolf, but something in between”: Liminal Spaces in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach (Patrizia Zanella)
- IV. Hyphenated Canada? Indigenous Voices and Hybrid Identities
- Painting (the) In-Between: Twentieth-Century Indigenous Border Art at Glacier/Waterton National Parks (Alexandra Ganser)
- Narrative Dynamics of Liminality in Naomi Fontaine’s Kuessipan (2011) (Jeanette den Toonder)
- Documenting Oral History and Lessons in Truth Telling in Nadia McLaren’s Muffins for Granny and Tim Wolochatiuk’s We Were Children (Sabrina Völz)
- V. Blurry Visions – Canadian Arts and Liminality
- Abstraction and Mysticism in Bertram Brooker’s Paintings and Novels (Katalin Kürtösi)
- Diane Schoemperlen’s By the Book: Stories and Pictures – Fragments in Contrapuntal Unity (Nikola Tutek)
- VI. Final Thresholds – Loss, Memory, and Dying
- The Melancholy of Urban Childhood: Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes (Martina Horakova)
- The Politics of Memory and Longing in Kim Thúy’s Ru (Andreea Catrinela Lazăr)
- The Intriguing Liminality of Dying in Keefer’s “Going Over the Bars” (Vesna Lopičić)
- VII. Poetical Observations – Canada as Art
- The Trading Post: Betwixt Wilderness and Civilization (Claire E. Smerdon)
- Poems (George Elliott Clarke)
- Contributors
- Series Index
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Canadian Cultural Imaginary and Its Liminal Aesthetics (Stefan L. Brandt)
- I. Liminal Landscapes
- Tripping on the Threshold; Groping in the Dark (Aritha van Herk)
- II. Canadian ‘Thirdspace’ – Nation, Language, and Immigration
- Inhabiting Trishanku in Canada: Threshold Experience in the Oeuvre of M.G. Vassanji (Shilpa Daithota Bhat)
- ‘Exclaveness’ and Liminality: Materialities and Rhetorics of Place at the Canadian Border (Peter Goggin)
- Subversion and Self-Definition in Montréal Novels by Dany Laferrière and Rawi Hage (Derek C. Maus)
- III. Ambiguous Fictions – Liminality in the Canadian Novel
- “… beyond the invisible barrier at Portage and Main”: Liminality in John Marlyn’s Under the Ribs of Death (Bernhard Wenzl)
- “not quite human, not quite wolf, but something in between”: Liminal Spaces in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach (Patrizia Zanella)
- IV. Hyphenated Canada? Indigenous Voices and Hybrid Identities
- Painting (the) In-Between: Twentieth-Century Indigenous Border Art at Glacier/Waterton National Parks (Alexandra Ganser)
- Narrative Dynamics of Liminality in Naomi Fontaine’s Kuessipan (2011) (Jeanette den Toonder)
- Documenting Oral History and Lessons in Truth Telling in Nadia McLaren’s Muffins for Granny and Tim Wolochatiuk’s We Were Children (Sabrina Völz)
- V. Blurry Visions – Canadian Arts and Liminality
- Abstraction and Mysticism in Bertram Brooker’s Paintings and Novels (Katalin Kürtösi)
- Diane Schoemperlen’s By the Book: Stories and Pictures – Fragments in Contrapuntal Unity (Nikola Tutek)
- VI. Final Thresholds – Loss, Memory, and Dying
- The Melancholy of Urban Childhood: Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes (Martina Horakova)
- The Politics of Memory and Longing in Kim Thúy’s Ru (Andreea Catrinela Lazăr)
- The Intriguing Liminality of Dying in Keefer’s “Going Over the Bars” (Vesna Lopičić)
- VII. Poetical Observations – Canada as Art
- The Trading Post: Betwixt Wilderness and Civilization (Claire E. Smerdon)
- Poems (George Elliott Clarke)
- Contributors
- Series Index