The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine
Thien’s Simple Recipes

C 2017

The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes

HORÁKOVÁ, Martina

Základní údaje

Originální název

The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes

Autoři

HORÁKOVÁ, Martina (203 Česká republika, garant, domácí)

Vydání

Frankfurt am Main, In-Between : Liminal Spaces in Canadian Literature and Culture, od s. 187-197, 11 s. Canadiana, 2017

Nakladatel

Peter Lang

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Kapitola resp. kapitoly v odborné knize

Obor

60206 Specific literatures

Stát vydavatele

Německo

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Forma vydání

tištěná verze "print"

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14210/17:00098768

Organizační jednotka

Filozofická fakulta

ISBN

978-3-631-73569-5

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.3726/b11899

Klíčová slova anglicky

liminality; Madeleine Thien; Simple Recipes

Štítky

rivok

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 6. 3. 2018 13:17, Mgr. Igor Hlaváč

Anotace

V originále

This article provides a close reading of Canadian author Madeleine Thien’s collection of short stories Simple Recipes (2001) in order to explore how the concept of liminality can be used to articulate Thien’s characters’ sense of (un)belonging, their identity negotiation and their experiences of transitions. Liminality, in the broader sense of a threshold moment, the period or place in-between, is analyzed from two perspectives: the first is temporal and relates to Thien’s elaborate anatomy of growing up, the transition from childhood to adulthood marked by a sense of loss, abandonment, and grief caused by mostly dysfunctional family relationships. The other kind of liminality relates to her depiction of liminal spaces, both in private and public settings of suburban Vancouver. The relationship between indoor and outdoor space is particularly intricate: while the domestic space is often a source of negative emotions which the young characters long to escape, the cityscape provides a seeming safety and a sense of belonging, particularly for the second generation of characters from immigrant families. Thus I argue that Thien’s stories, by interweaving these two kinds of liminality present specific aesthetics in which most characters find themselves in a transient, restless mode of living, lingering between childhood and adulthood, between indoor/domestic and outdoor/public spaces, and only rarely do they find closure or a resolution. The threshold moments and transitions, in spite of offering a temporary liberation, often lead to a state of melancholy experienced by the characters—a state marked by the difficulty, if not impossibility, to transcend loss, grief and mourning.

Návaznosti

MUNI/A/1065/2016, interní kód MU

Název: Profilace výzkumných zaměření v anglofonní lingvistické a literární vědě II (Akronym: VZALL2)

Investor: Masarykova univerzita, Profilace výzkumných zaměření v anglofonní lingvistické a literární vědě II, DO R. 2020_Kategorie A - Specifický výzkum - Studentské výzkumné projekty

Citovat

HORÁKOVÁ, Martina. The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes. In Stefan L. Brandt. In-Between : Liminal Spaces in Canadian Literature and Culture. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2017, s. 187-197. Canadiana. ISBN 978-3-631-73569-5. Dostupné z: https://dx.doi.org/10.3726/b11899.

@inbook{1399120,
   author = {Horáková, Martina},
   address = {Frankfurt am Main},
   booktitle = {In-Between : Liminal Spaces in Canadian Literature and Culture},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3726/b11899},
   editor = {Stefan L. Brandt},
   keywords = {liminality; Madeleine Thien; Simple Recipes},
   howpublished = {tištěná verze "print"},
   language = {eng},
   location = {Frankfurt am Main},
   isbn = {978-3-631-73569-5},
   pages = {187-197},
   publisher = {Peter Lang},
   title = {The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes},
   year = {2017}
}

TY  - CHAP
ID  - 1399120
AU  - Horáková, Martina
PY  - 2017
TI  - The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes
VL  - Canadiana
PB  - Peter Lang
CY  - Frankfurt am Main
SN  - 9783631735695
KW  - liminality
KW  - Madeleine Thien
KW  - Simple Recipes
N2  - This article provides a close reading of Canadian author Madeleine Thien’s collection of short stories Simple Recipes (2001) in order to explore how the concept of liminality can be used to articulate Thien’s characters’ sense of (un)belonging, their identity negotiation and their experiences of transitions. Liminality, in the broader sense of a threshold moment, the period or place in-between, is analyzed from two perspectives: the first is temporal and relates to Thien’s elaborate anatomy of growing up, the transition from childhood to adulthood marked by a sense of loss, abandonment, and grief caused by mostly dysfunctional family relationships. The other kind of liminality relates to her depiction of liminal spaces, both in private and public settings of suburban Vancouver. The relationship between indoor and outdoor space is particularly intricate: while the domestic space is often a source of negative emotions which the young characters long to escape, the cityscape provides a seeming safety and a sense of belonging, particularly for the second generation of characters from immigrant families. Thus I argue that Thien’s stories, by interweaving these two kinds of liminality present specific aesthetics in which most characters find themselves in a transient, restless mode of living, lingering between childhood and adulthood, between indoor/domestic and outdoor/public spaces, and only rarely do they find closure or a resolution. The threshold moments and transitions, in spite of offering a temporary liberation, often lead to a state of melancholy experienced by the characters—a state marked by the difficulty, if not impossibility, to transcend loss, grief and mourning.
ER  -

HORÁKOVÁ, Martina. The Melancholy of Urban Childhood : Liminality in Madeleine Thien’s Simple Recipes. In Stefan L. Brandt. \textit{In-Between : Liminal Spaces in Canadian Literature and Culture}. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2017, s.~187-197. Canadiana. ISBN~978-3-631-73569-5. Dostupné z: https://dx.doi.org/10.3726/b11899.

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