Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir
According to Victor Turner, all liminality must eventually dissolve, for it is a state of great intensity that cannot exist very long without some sort of structure to sta-bilize it. This paper takes his lead and attempts to describe the liminal status of those women, the whereabouts of whose husban...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Linköping University Electronic Press
2016-04-01
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| Series: | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.168126 |
| _version_ | 1828826731902926848 |
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| author | Paul DSouza |
| author_facet | Paul DSouza |
| author_sort | Paul DSouza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | According to Victor Turner, all liminality must eventually dissolve, for it is a state of great intensity that cannot exist very long without some sort of structure to sta-bilize it. This paper takes his lead and attempts to describe the liminal status of those women, the whereabouts of whose husbands are not known (they are locally re-ferred to as 'half-widows') in the conflict zone of Kashmir, India. The article ex-amines the concept of liminality based on life as lived today by these half-widows and shows how the effects of liminality operate in their day to day life, making them extremely vulnerable victims. In this, it is an attempt to expand upon the concept of liminality, originally linked almost exclusively to rites of passage. Furthermore, this paper reflects on the idea of permanent liminality that has been elaborated by soci-ologist Arpad Szakolczai. The narratives of the half-widows of Kashmir provide an example of how they are trapped in a form of 1permanent liminality1 far beyond what was initially defined as a 'temporal state'. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T14:44:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bb5db33ef3f647eaaea404d4625f0728 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2000-1525 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T14:44:57Z |
| publishDate | 2016-04-01 |
| publisher | Linköping University Electronic Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-bb5db33ef3f647eaaea404d4625f07282022-12-22T00:21:08ZengLinköping University Electronic PressCulture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research2000-15252016-04-0181264210.3384/cu.2000.1525.168126Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of KashmirPaul DSouzaAccording to Victor Turner, all liminality must eventually dissolve, for it is a state of great intensity that cannot exist very long without some sort of structure to sta-bilize it. This paper takes his lead and attempts to describe the liminal status of those women, the whereabouts of whose husbands are not known (they are locally re-ferred to as 'half-widows') in the conflict zone of Kashmir, India. The article ex-amines the concept of liminality based on life as lived today by these half-widows and shows how the effects of liminality operate in their day to day life, making them extremely vulnerable victims. In this, it is an attempt to expand upon the concept of liminality, originally linked almost exclusively to rites of passage. Furthermore, this paper reflects on the idea of permanent liminality that has been elaborated by soci-ologist Arpad Szakolczai. The narratives of the half-widows of Kashmir provide an example of how they are trapped in a form of 1permanent liminality1 far beyond what was initially defined as a 'temporal state'.http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.168126Kashmirhalf-widowspermanent liminalityvulnerabilityIndia |
| spellingShingle | Paul DSouza Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research Kashmir half-widows permanent liminality vulnerability India |
| title | Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir |
| title_full | Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir |
| title_fullStr | Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir |
| title_short | Life-as-Lived Today: Perpetual (Undesired) Liminality of the Half-widows of Kashmir |
| title_sort | life as lived today perpetual undesired liminality of the half widows of kashmir |
| topic | Kashmir half-widows permanent liminality vulnerability India |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.168126 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pauldsouza lifeaslivedtodayperpetualundesiredliminalityofthehalfwidowsofkashmir |