Threshold and metamorphosis: a anthropological reflection on a psychiatric disorder

Abstract

This article rests on the classic concept of «threshold», viewed in light of a turnerian redefinition. «Threshold» - seen as a quality of that which is about to commence, or enter («at the threshold», as it were) - has two spheres of meaning: «ontological transformation» and «structural invisibility». Applying the concept to ethnographical work carried out at the Júlio de Matos Hospital, the author approaches the ontological transformation as a metamorphosis. He then goes on to analyse the progression from structural invisibility to structural visibility. The study's subjects, hitherto in a shadowy social margin, succeed in reaching illuminated spaces through a culturally specific language. Thus, they begin to be capable of defining, and accurately classifying, their place in the world.