Limbo vs Liminality These two words have tremendous significance and relevance in the situation we are going through and the state of our societies even before the calamities stepped in . What are the definitions of these two words? limbo noun US /ˈlɪm.boʊ/ UK /ˈlɪm.bəʊ/ limbo noun ( UNCERTAINTY ) an uncertain situation that you cannot control and in which there is no progress or improvement : Until we have official permission to go ahead with the plans we're in limbo.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words Uncertainty · be neither fish nor fowl idiom · blurred · blurry · circumstantial · conflicted · debatable · dodgy · fuzzy · insecurely · insecurity · it remains to be seen idiom · it's early days idiom · joker in the pack idiom · sputter · stutter · swither · tentative · tentatively · tentativeness · unclear now look at the anthropological term. LIMINALITY liminal adjective formal US / ˈlɪm. ə n.əl / UK / ˈlɪm.ɪ.n ə l / between or belonging to two different places , states , etc.: the liminal state between waking and sleeping Thesaurus: synonyms and related words Between · 'twixt · (in) between times idiom · amid · among · between · betwixt · block · halfway · in · in-between · inter · interleave · intermediate · interstitial · intervening · mid · midst · partway EXAMPLES of LIMINAL liminal How do the supposed liminal dimensions of some material elements of the ritual relate to fire as a medium of transition?
From Cambridge English Corpus However, these physical practices also re-choreographed the hidden and liminal spaces to which they were restricted. From Cambridge English Corpus Dr JLFS is a Cuban doctor friend of mine, a psychiatrist by training but a person interested in emotional trauma because of his own experiences in Angola and currently in a south American Country. I visit him in his new residence once in a while and we have long conversations and today’s conversation was no different.
We talked about Limbo and Liminality. He pointed out that many of the Cuban migrants to Miami, seem out of place in their own minds when they are here, because there are outside their zones of comfort. We are talking about White Cubans.
To somehow make sense of their continued suffering, they begin to blame “them” (whoever it could be either US or Cuba) for their continued suffering. While outwardly they seem to be adjusting well, the inner trauma continues. I have copied here a bit of our conversation; I have not included my part of the conversation but here are his thoughts in context of our conversation in which we both participate fully.
[17:10, 05/04/2020] No creo q quedarse en esta zona construida, tenga q ver con el sentido del movimiento, creo q tiene q ver con una estructura neurótica de base en el funcionamiento. Hay un terreno propicio previo que facilita la desarticulación del funcionamiento habitual y determina la construcción mímica, diría q es una alternativa a pesar del sufrimiento, a la desestrucruracion . Cuando se hacen cambios :Sobretodo de esta envergadura.
I don't think that staying in this built-up area has to do with the sense of movement, I think it has to do with a basic neurotic structure in operation. There is a prior propitious terrain that facilitates the disarticulation of normal functioning and determines the mimic construction, I would say that it is an alternative despite suffering, to destruction. When changes are made Above all of this magnitude.
Pienso q son muchos factores, uno de ellos tiene que ver con la decisión, dentro de un contexto determinado, expectativas, realidad, manejo de recursos y otros muchos, pero la resiliencia juega un papel fundamental. I think there are many factors, one of them has to do with the decision, within a given context, expectations, reality, resource management and many others, but resilience plays a fundamental role. No te olvides , el limbo, también tiene una ilusión de temporalidad, pero depende de otro, además incluye el concepto de creerse justo, lo q implica q mientras no ocurre el rescate el "mundo",está siendo injusto con ellos.
Do not forget , the limbo, also has an illusion of temporality, but it depends on another, it also includes the concept of believing himself fair, which implies that while the rescue does not occur, the "world" is being unfair to them. Existe en todas partes a con diferentes niveles de movilización y es una cuestión individual. Yo no soy ejemplo, por suerte he tenido una buena y sólida familia, tuve la oportunidad de una buena formación, después tengo una especialidad q me ha ofrecido conocimiento de muchos fenómenos y para rematar estuve en una guerra ajena por dos años, así q en el medio de los muchos defectos y problemas q tengo, siempre pienso, puedo un poco más, aunque a veces muy pocas hay situaciones extraordinarias q me sobrepasan, como la actual.
It exists everywhere with different levels of mobilization and is an individual matter. I am not an example, luckily I have had a good and solid family, I had the opportunity of a good formation, then I have a specialty that has offered me knowledge of many phenomena and to top it off I was in an alien war for two years, so in the middle of the many defects and problems that I have, I always think, I can a little more, although sometimes very few there are extraordinary situations that surpass me. Todo el q sea consecuente con lo que piensa en general se siente confortable, incluso en las carencias.Es un tanto reduccionista el concepto pero funciona.
All those who are consistent with what they think generally feel comfortable, even in deficiencies. The concept is somewhat reductionist but it works. Being a traveler around the world, I have observed the limbo nature of “temporary” and permanent migrants and also “refugees” of various types (my heart breaks thinking of the refugees sheltering in camps in many countries around the world, whereas some people claim the status of refugee not because of a war or a deprivation but on ideological grounds).
There is a lateral migration or movement or vertical movement. A person coming from Australia to USA the movement is lateral and the adjustment is minimal, very seldom he or she is in a limbo status. Perhaps the similarity of the economic status and the common language may have something to do with it.
I am not sure how an Australian may feel in Germany or Finland or Russia with regard to their language and whether or not that puts him in a limbo category. Almost all the migration movements and refugee movements are vertical in that they are leaving a less developed country for a more developed country and in some instances very much more developed and also the cultural gap is great. The cultural gap of An Australian moving to UK may be very little but an educated Indian moving to the UK or USA may feel the cultural gap to be much greater despite a common language.
I have also wondered why Iranians moving to Europe, Australia and USA integrate quickly into the society when you compare to people from other Muslim countries or Muslims from other countries. So preparation before migration, if it is possible, is important in that get yourself a good education, good experiences in life and then migrate for whatever personal reasons you may have. I think it is not fair to expect the host countries to give you the kind of formation and experiences if you had missed them out in your own countries.
In Cuba among the young people there is a belief that if only they could go to USA or Europe their life would be much better without realizing that so many impediments lie on their way to that acculturation. A close friend of mine, a 29 year old teacher at a small town in Eastern Cuba said to me; I do not wish to leave Cuba, what am I when I get to a new country where I do not speak the language and do not know many people and have no chance of easy advancement in life and would be forced to do jobs that I don’t have to do in Cuba, here I am a teacher and I can remain so if I wish to. Immigration is a personal choice and I would never say whether one should leave or not.
Here we are talking about Limbo and I feel that in my travels, whether you are South Asian or East Asian or Arab or Muslim or a South American, your entry into the migrant society will not be easy and you can expect to be in that LIMBO… with continued suffering .. as poet Pablo Neruda had written. Un alma sin raices es una injusticia A soul without roots is an injustice.
It has no anchor, it floats in the water as per the prevailing winds .. it may never reach the shore ..
Original Blogger URL: https://medicoanthropologist.blogspot.com/2020/04/limbo-vs-liminality-metaphor-for-our.html