Liminality Wanted. Liminal landscapes and literary spaces: The Way of St. James

Abstract

The term limen was introduced to anthropological studies following Van Gennep’s theories (1960) about liminality. Among them, Victor and Edith Turner (1978) defined pilgrimage as a liminal experience, as it implies being between two existential levels that, through rituality, favours reflection. In this sense, the case of The Way of St. James (Spain) is an interesting field or research as it is loaded with contemporary meanings. Its landscapes assume the nature of spiritual and therapeutic ones; here, the physical and built environment, social conditions and human perceptions produce an atmosphere favourable to spiritual healing. On the basis of these emotions, liminality is the essence of this pilgrimage experience, not only during the same, but especially afterwards. As a matter of fact, this spiritual journey involves the search for one’s self once back home, thus acting in the process of formation of the individual. Drawing on the need for improving researches on landscape perception approach in tourism studies, we pretend to singularise the pilgrimage landscape from a liminal perspective in order to point out the need for liminality before, during and after the pilgrimage. This is achieved by exploring perceptions and emotions expressed in a corpus of travel literary production. These narrative works are not limited to describe the pilgrimage experiences; rather they make liminality a literary theme to magnify their experiences. As a result, the concept of liminal literary landscape is used to refer to pilgrims’ desire to revive liminality through the pages of travel narratives, in order to continue enjoying these emotions and feelings. These travel narratives are producing new literary modes based on the geographical exploration of the landscapes of The Way in relation to human feelings.

摘要

根据范热内谱1960年提出的阀限理论, 阀限这个术语引入到人类学研究中。其中, 维克多和艾迪斯.特纳界定朝圣为一种阀限体验, 因为朝圣暗含着处于两种既有水平之间, 并且这种两种水平通过仪式促进了反思。从这个意义上说圣詹姆斯之路是一种有趣的阀限体验的研究领域, 因为它承载着当代意义。圣詹姆斯之路景观具有精神与治疗景观的特点, 在此景观之下自然与人造环境、社会条件与人类感知生成了一种有利于精神治疗的氛围。根据这些情感, 阀限是朝圣体验的本质, 不仅在朝圣之中甚至在朝圣之后。实际上, 这种精神旅程包含了追寻人类自身的归乡之旅, 因而体现于个人成人过程之中。基于改进旅游研究中景观认知途径的需要, 为了凸显阀限对朝圣之前、之中以及之后之必需, 我们自许从阀限角度凸显了朝圣景观。本研究工作是通过探索旅游游记作品中体现出来的感知与情感得以实现。这些描述性的文学作品不局限于描写了朝圣体验, 相反为了放大他们的体验而把阀限塑造成一个文学主题。

Resumen

El término limen se introdujo en los estudios antropológicos a raíz de las teorías de Van Gennep (1960). Sucesivamente, Turner and Turner (1978) definieron la peregrinación como una experiencia liminal; que implica estar entre dos niveles existenciales que, a través de la ritualidad, favorecen la reflexión. En este sentido, el caso del Camino de Santiago (España) es un ámbito de estudio interesante, ya que está cargado de significados contemporáneos. Sus paisajes asumen valores espirituales y terapéuticos; en los mismos, el entorno físico y construido, las condiciones sociales y las percepciones humanas producen una atmósfera favorable a la curación espiritual. De este modo, la liminalidad es la esencia de esta experiencia de peregrinación, no solo durante la misma, sino especialmente después. El viaje espiritual implica la búsqueda de uno mismo incluso una vez a casa, actuando así en el proceso de formación del individuo. Partiendo de la necesidad de mejorar las investigaciones sobre el enfoque de la percepción del paisaje en los estudios turísticos, pretendemos singularizar el paisaje de peregrinación desde una perspectiva liminal para señalar el deseo de liminalidad antes, durante y después de la peregrinación. Esto se logra explorando las percepciones y las emociones expresadas en un cuerpo de producción literaria de viajes. Las narrativas que se han analizado no se limitan a describir las peregrinaciones, sino hacen de la liminalidad un tema literario para magnificar sus experiencias. Como resultado, el concepto de paisaje literario liminal se usa para referirse al deseo de los peregrinos de revivir la liminalidad a través de las páginas de narraciones de viajes y poder así seguir disfrutando de emociones y sentimientos. En definitiva, estas narrativas de viaje están produciendo nuevos modos literarios basados ​​en la exploración geográfica de los paisajes del Camino en relación con los sentimientos humanos.

KEYWORDS:

• The Way of St. James
• Pilgrimage Landscapes
• Liminality
• Communitas
• Travel Narratives
• Liminal Literary Spaces

关键词:

• 圣詹姆斯之路；朝圣景观； 阀限；共同体；游记；阀限文学空间

Palabras clave:

• Camino de Santiago
• Paisajes de Peregrinación
• Liminalidad
• Communitas
• Narrativas de viaje
• Espacios Literarios Liminales

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 The abbreviation “The Way” will be used henceforth to refer to The Way of Saint James

2 The first edition in the original German language was published in 2006. Its original title is Ich bin dann mal weg. For this study, an edition in Spanish language re-edited in 2016 is used.

3 The first edition in the original French language was published in 2013. Its original title is Immortelle randonnée, Compostelle. For this study, an edition in Spanish language re-edited in 2013 is used.

4 For a more comfortable and homogeneous reading, the translations of the selected passages are introduced.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rubén C. Lois González

Ruben C. Lois González is Full Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He is the former General Director for Tourism of the Autonomous Government of Galicia (2005-2009). He is the author of more than two hundred publications and has published a considerable number of articles in scientific reviews, such as Geographical Research, Tourism Management Perspective, Die Erde, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, Tourism and Hospitality Research.

Lucrezia Lopez

Lucrezia Lopez is Lecturer of Geography at the Department of Geography of the University of Santiago de Compostela. She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Santiago de Compostela. Her main research lines include: Human and Cultural Geography; Tourism Geography; Heritage and Heritage Management; Geography of Pilgrimages and Geography of Sacred Spaces (Cultural itineraries and the Way of St. James); Geo-Humanities.