Liminality and Oven-Games in Gravity's Rainbow

[Paul Mackin]

On Jun 20, 2006, at 3:55 PM, mikebailey at speakeasy.net wrote:

>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Dave Monroe > Subject: Liminality and Oven-Games in  
>> Gravity's Rainbow
>>
>
> I cannot stop saying "liminality" subvocally.  It's been a couple  
> days now.
>
> I even looked it up in Wikipedia, learning that it has (at least) a  
> sociological meaning, eg a graduation ceremony, redefining a social  
> role
>
> Is this liminality the liminality that is being referred to?
> And what does that have to do with Gravity's Rainbow?


When Pynchon first came on the scene in '63 readers and critics were  
struck by a marked tendency on his part to avoid settling on fixed  
meanings--the symbol "V" being the most obvious example. More  
advanced types saw this not merely as humorous or fence sitting but  
as the wish to express a deeper "kind" of meaningfulness, meaning  
falling between the already established meanings.  Neither/nor  
meanings. Meanings  falling within  the  interstices of meaning.

Interstitiality is another good word for  it.





>
>
> mikebailey
>
> ps "liminality"
>
>