Violent Liminalities in Early Modern Culture: Inhabiting Contested Thresholds

Violent liminalities in Early Modern Culture combines queer theory and disability studies to investigate the violence feared and directed at inhabitants of the 'betwixt and between spaces of early modern literature and culture. It explores the metamorphic states of Shakespeares and Spensers liminal figures, such as Lavinia, Puck, and Britomart, and how being simultaneously 'neither and 'both brings to bear the non-normative disruption identified by queer theory.

Format: Hardback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 25 November 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Violent liminalities in Early Modern Culture is a groundbreaking work that seamlessly blends the fields of queer theory and disability studies. It delves into the fears and violence directed towards individuals occupying the "betwixt and between spaces" of early modern literature and culture. Through a close examination of the metamorphic states of Shakespeares and Spensers liminal figures, such as Lavinia, Puck, and Britomart, the book explores the perpetuated states of liminality. Kaye McLelland employs a bi-theoretical lens to examine how being simultaneously "neither and 'both" disrupts normative systems, challenging binary frameworks.

For many characters in Spensers and Shakespeares works, the "in-between state," whether induced through ritual or circumstance, transforms the fleeting binary threshold of the limen into a permanent dwelling. This created space holds immense power, which is both feared and violently resisted by those seeking to shut it down.

This volume situates liminal literary figures within the realm of the liminality of the dead and dying, while also tracing the positive portrayals of these inhabitants of the powerful "betwixt and between." It contextualizes their existence within the literary history of Spensers and Shakespeares Ovidianism and festivity, as well as the historical transition from a tertiary to a binary model of the afterlife. By highlighting the persistent proximity of liminal figures to the boundaries of life and death, the book underscores the significance of these individuals in shaping early modern culture and society.

Weight: 468g
Dimension: 157 x 236 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367620851