LIMINAL SPACES AND THE ECOMORPHIC SELF IN ALISTAIR MACLEOD’S SHORT STORIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbphilo.2021.1.19Keywords:
Alistair MacLeod, Cape Breton, liminality, borderlands, ecomorphism.Abstract
Liminal Spaces and the Ecomorphic Self in Alistair MacLeod’s Short Stories. Starting from the observation that Cape Breton Island, the distinctive setting of Alistair MacLeod’s fiction, is a “borderland” lying at the intersection of complementary elements (past – present, tradition – individuality, humans – environment), this paper proposes a general discussion of liminality in the author’s work as well as a close reading of two of his short stories, “The Road to Rankin’s Point” and “Island”, with the aim of highlighting how a relational, ecomorphic self-arises in the wake of symbolic encounters that lead to a reassessment of the subject’s position within their biological and cultural milieu.
REZUMAT. Spații liminale și sinele ecomorfic în povestirile lui Alistair MacLeod. Pornind de la observația că Insula Cape Breton, cadrul natural tipic al povestirilor lui Alistair MacLeod, este o „zonă de frontieră” situată la intersecția unor elemente complementare (trecut - prezent, tradiție - individualitate, oameni – mediu înconjurător), această lucrare propune o discuție generală a liminalității în opera autorului, precum și o lectură atentă a două dintre creațiile sale, „Drumul către Rankin Point” și „Insula”, pentru a evidenția modul în care un sine relațional, ecomorf, apare în urma unor întâlniri simbolice care duc la reevaluarea poziției subiectului în raport cu mediul său biologic și cultural.
Cuvinte-cheie: Alistair MacLeod, Cape Breton, liminalitate, zone de frontieră, ecomorfism.
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