Alfred Bendixen - "The Liminal Spaces of Hawthorne's Short Story Cycles"

Aug 22, 2026

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This presentation explores the concept of liminality within Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story cycles, focusing on "The Liminal Spaces of Hawthorne's Short Story Cycles." Almost all of Hawthorne's celebrated short stories were initially conceived as part of unified collections, either examining Puritan history or the role of the Story Teller in American culture. The presentation posits that the thematic coherence of these cycles underscores a key dimension of liminality, where a story gains profound meaning upon reintegration into its intended context. Furthermore, Hawthorne's initiation stories, featured in projected volumes like Provincial Tales and The Story Teller, highlight the dynamic and fluid nature of identity within democratic American spaces. In Hawthorne's work, and indeed in much of American fiction, identity is not a static entity to be discovered but a continuous process of flux, necessitating constant creation or risking loss. The paper argues that Hawthorne's pervasive use of liminality in plot, characterization, and setting is fundamental to his exploration of both the potential and the constraints inherent in American democracy. The quintessential Hawthorne story is depicted as an initiation narrative, unfolding in settings that transition from tangible reality to dream-like, often nightmarish, realms, and from historically grounded landscapes to symbolic and psychological territories.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

"The Liminal Spaces of Hawthorne's Short Story Cycles"

Puritan History

Role of the Story Teller

Liminality in Hawthorne's Fiction

Identity in Flux

Initiation Stories

American Democracy

FAQs

What was the original intent behind Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories?

Almost all of Hawthorne's short stories were originally intended to be part of short-story cycles, unified collections that focus on either Puritan history or the role of the storyteller in American culture.

How does liminality manifest in Hawthorne's fiction?

Liminality is evident in the stories' thematic coherence when restored to their cycles, in the fluidity of identity, and in settings that shift from reality to dream-worlds or from historical landscapes to symbolic and psychological realms.

What is Hawthorne's central argument regarding liminality and American democracy?

The presentation argues that Hawthorne's extensive use of liminality is central to his vision of the possibilities and limitations of American democracy, particularly in his treatment of plot, character, and setting.

Aug 22, 2026

Upload by Aurelia