On The Magic Mountain: The novel as liminal affective technology

Stenner, Paul and Greco, Monica (2018). On The Magic Mountain: The novel as liminal affective technology. International Political Anthropology, 11(1)

Abstract

In this paper we build on Szakolczai’s analysis of the sociological relevance of the novel to propose that novels can be regarded as a historically specific instance of what we call ‘liminal affective technologies’. We develop this proposition through a psychosocial reading of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, to demonstrate that this novel not only represents – as Szakolczai already argues – the reflexive culmination of a historical movement towards permanent liminality, but also a performative meditation on the role of ‘liminal affective technologies’ in metabolising experience and channelling psychosocial transformations.

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• Item ORO ID
• 55596
• Item Type
• Journal Item
• ISSN
• 2283-9887
• Keywords
• the novel; The Magic Mountain; Thomas Mann; liminality; literature; psychology of literature; sociology of the novel; art
• Academic Unit or School
• Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Psychology and Counselling > Psychology
  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Psychology and Counselling
  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)
• Copyright Holders
• © Authors
• Depositing User
• Paul Stenner