The Janus Gate project is born as an effort of unifying various research initiatives dealing with the concept of liminality on an interdisciplinary level. The main objective is to create a space which will enable scholars to follow, as well as to contribute, to the ongoing development of liminal studies.
The project’s nature is well summarized by the domain of its namesake, the Roman god Janus, whose sphere of influence included doorways, passages, gates, transitions, duality, time, beginnings and endings. The specific elements associated with this Roman deity have featured prominently in the study of liminality from its very origins - building on Van Gennep’s and Turner’s anthropological studies of thresholds and their social significance in connection to “rites of passage” as transitional experiences - and have remained central through the various transformations and recontextualizations which these studies have undergone throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In the application of the liminal gaze, new and productive avenues of research open up in the study of image and text. In this light, The Janus Gate project seeks to function as a relevant source and space for discussion that will ensure the continued evolution of liminality studies.
Organizers:
Elena Bermejo - PhD candidate, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Andrés Guillo - PhD candidate, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Jennifer Harding - PhD candidate, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Marta Vega - MA in English Studies, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Trevor Westmoreland - PhD, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain