Chapter 4. Liminal islands
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Nigel McLoughlin
Abstract
This chapter uses Text World Theory (Werth 1999; Gavins 2007) in conjunction with Stockwell’s model of literary resonance (2009) to analyse the mechanisms by which liminal spaces are created and developed in two poems by Derek Mahon. The analysis will focus on how liminal spaces are used in the poems to effect co-presences. In ‘Beyond the Pale’ a sense of loneliness and longing is created through the superimposition of topographically similar but distant landscapes, allowing wished co-presences to be made tantalisingly close, but never realised. While in ‘Rathlin’ a liminal seascape allows for the possibilities of temporal co-presences in a space which is outside of our normal conception of time. The study will show that the combination of Text World Theory with the attentional tracking capabilities of the resonance model offers a more dynamic version of Text World Theory that attends to text-worlds in attentional relation to each other over time, which in turn helps to create the liminal effects of the poems.
Abstract
This chapter uses Text World Theory (Werth 1999; Gavins 2007) in conjunction with Stockwell’s model of literary resonance (2009) to analyse the mechanisms by which liminal spaces are created and developed in two poems by Derek Mahon. The analysis will focus on how liminal spaces are used in the poems to effect co-presences. In ‘Beyond the Pale’ a sense of loneliness and longing is created through the superimposition of topographically similar but distant landscapes, allowing wished co-presences to be made tantalisingly close, but never realised. While in ‘Rathlin’ a liminal seascape allows for the possibilities of temporal co-presences in a space which is outside of our normal conception of time. The study will show that the combination of Text World Theory with the attentional tracking capabilities of the resonance model offers a more dynamic version of Text World Theory that attends to text-worlds in attentional relation to each other over time, which in turn helps to create the liminal effects of the poems.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Thematic adverbial adjuncts of place and direction and their relationship to conceptual metaphor in A. E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad 17
- Chapter 3. Death by nature in two poems by Alden Nowlan 45
- Chapter 4. Liminal islands 65
- Chapter 5. Urban metaphors 85
- Chapter 6. The Arabic of Dune 105
- Chapter 7. (Re)mapping “authentic” London 125
- Chapter 8. “Boston Strong” 147
- Chapter 9. Naming as styling 167
- Chapter 10. “She enjoys being stroked”, “They are affectionate, lively and interactive boys” 189
- Chapter 11. “Your planet needs you” 209
- Chapter 12. London past and present 229
- Name Index 253
- Subject Index 255
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Thematic adverbial adjuncts of place and direction and their relationship to conceptual metaphor in A. E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad 17
- Chapter 3. Death by nature in two poems by Alden Nowlan 45
- Chapter 4. Liminal islands 65
- Chapter 5. Urban metaphors 85
- Chapter 6. The Arabic of Dune 105
- Chapter 7. (Re)mapping “authentic” London 125
- Chapter 8. “Boston Strong” 147
- Chapter 9. Naming as styling 167
- Chapter 10. “She enjoys being stroked”, “They are affectionate, lively and interactive boys” 189
- Chapter 11. “Your planet needs you” 209
- Chapter 12. London past and present 229
- Name Index 253
- Subject Index 255
