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Introduction. Thresholds: a manifold space

Publication . Masi, Jacopo

In 2018, within the framework of a long-standing and fruitful collaboration between the Centre for Classical Studies and the Centre for Comparative Studies of the University of Lisbon, we organized an international conference on the topic of “thresholds in literature and the arts”. The call for papers for this volume followed a few months later. The essays that the reader finds here represent a fraction of the proposals we received, selected through double-blind peer reviews. What triggered this double initiative – the conference and the volume – was the desire to explore the density and breadth of the notion of the threshold by addressing it from different perspectives, bringing together researchers from different areas – areas of research but also geographical areas – and with different methodologies. Undoubtedly we were also lured, at least at the beginning, by the naive hope – an unavowed wishful thinking, if you prefer – of working out a clear-cut definition of what a threshold is. And yet, we were also, or quickly became, aware that the question “what is a threshold?” is far more complex and difficult to answer that it may seem. This critical introduction to the volume emphasizes two crucial, closely intertwined, features of our project, one concerning the main theme, the other concerning its editorial development and final outcome. As far as the first aspect is concerned, the strong symbolical charge of the threshold, combined with the variety of its manifestations, its multifaceted nature and even its essential ambiguities, makes it a ubiquitous motif and a useful prism through which delve into, and compare, different cultures and forms of art. At the same time, the richness and semantic stratification of the threshold, in the context of a multidisciplinary publication such as this one, materializes in an extremely broad and elaborate pattern of echoes and connections: each essay can be read in association with several others, depending on the reader’s perspective and main interests, and every combination will help to cast light on a particular facet of our theme. The thematic groups and discussion of this long introduction seek to highlight some of these connections and some of the question they raise. We are confident that the reader will find plenty of other intriguing paths that unfold from these thresholds.

2024-09Book part

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