Psychological functions of semiotic borders in sense-making: Liminality of narrative processes

In this paper we discuss the semiotic functions of the psychological borders that structure the flow of narrative processes. Each narration is always a contextual, situated and contingent process of sensemaking, made possible by the creation of borders, such as dynamic semiotic devices that are capable of connecting the past and the future, the inside and the outside, and the me with the non-me. Borders enable us to narratively construct one’s own experiences using three inherent processes: contextualization, intersubjective positioning and setting of pertinence. The narrative process – as a subjective articulation of signs in a contingent social context – involves several functions of semiotic borders: separation, differentiation, distinction-making, connection, articulation and relation-enabling. The relevant psychological aspect highlighted here is that a border is a semiotic device which is required for both maintaining stability and inducing transformation at the same time. The peculiar dynamics and the semiotic structure of borders generate a liminal space, which is characterized by instability, by a blurred space-time distinction and by ambiguities in the semantic and syntactic processes of sensemaking. The psychological processes that occur in liminal space are strongly affectively loaded, yet it is exactly the setting and activation of liminality processes that lead to novelty and creativity and enable the creation of new narrative forms. peerReviewed publishedVersion

本文探讨了构建叙事过程流的心理边界（psychological borders）的符号学功能。每一则叙事始终是一种情境化、处境化且偶在性的意义建构过程，其得以实现有赖于边界的创设——这类动态符号学工具能够联结过去与未来、内部与外部，以及自我与非我。边界使得我们能够通过三种内在过程，以叙事方式建构自身经验：情境化、主体间定位与相关性设定。叙事过程作为偶在社会语境中符号的主体性表述，承载着符号边界的多项功能：分隔、分化、辨异、联结、明晰化与关系搭建。此处凸显的核心心理学议题在于：边界作为一种符号学工具，能够同时维系稳定性与催生变革。边界独特的动力学特性与符号学结构，生成了阈限空间（liminal space）——该空间以不稳定、模糊的时空分界，以及意义建构过程中语义与句法层面的歧义性为特征。发生于阈限空间内的心理过程，承载着强烈的情感负荷，但恰恰是阈限性过程的创设与激活，催生了新颖性与创造性，并为新叙事形式的创造提供了可能。经同行评审的正式发表版本