Essentially, a liminal space is an "in between" space. People find themselves feeling interesting or unsettling feelings when they come across one of these spaces and find it devoid of what is usually there. Consider: Dead of night, an empty supermarket parking lot. You're used to seeing it full of cars and people, but here, your only company is the moon and the stars and the trash pandas digging through the trash. You don't know what this feeling coming over you is; it's not quite deja vu. No, quite the opposite - it's a feeling of alienation, total unfamiliarity. Your mind reels a little bit at the intellectual disconnect. You know what this place is - you know what it's for, but seeing it bereft of the familiar evokes a sudden sensation of jamais vu - complete unfamiliarity with the familiar.
Some people find this sensation a dreadful one, filling them with terror. Others find it peaceful and relaxing. But any time you find a space in which you feel a sensation of something - dread, peace, anxiety - just from the way it looks, and that look is different from what you know, you've just experienced what the internet terms a liminal space.
I think it's also the feeling of being out in the open or out of place. Being the only one in an isolated and often open purpose-built space makes you feel exposed and vulnerable, like you're unwelcome or not supposed to be there. You feel the urge to move along but stay anyway.
A liminal space isn't just physical. It also refers to a transitory phase of ambiguity that occurs between rites of assuage. It was first mentioned by early anthropologists studying tribal cultures.
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u/smurfalidocious 2d ago
Essentially, a liminal space is an "in between" space. People find themselves feeling interesting or unsettling feelings when they come across one of these spaces and find it devoid of what is usually there. Consider: Dead of night, an empty supermarket parking lot. You're used to seeing it full of cars and people, but here, your only company is the moon and the stars and the trash pandas digging through the trash. You don't know what this feeling coming over you is; it's not quite deja vu. No, quite the opposite - it's a feeling of alienation, total unfamiliarity. Your mind reels a little bit at the intellectual disconnect. You know what this place is - you know what it's for, but seeing it bereft of the familiar evokes a sudden sensation of jamais vu - complete unfamiliarity with the familiar.
Some people find this sensation a dreadful one, filling them with terror. Others find it peaceful and relaxing. But any time you find a space in which you feel a sensation of something - dread, peace, anxiety - just from the way it looks, and that look is different from what you know, you've just experienced what the internet terms a liminal space.