Philosophy (+1)
If you don't mind: In case my final exam on philosophy would be open; I'd chose Liminality as the topic and copy your text XD.
A joke of course, but it's so well presented, it truly is worth an exam paper.
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» Liminality, or Why a Bunch of Soggy Hallways are Scary to Us
This is the discussion related to the wiki page Liminality, or Why a Bunch of Soggy Hallways are Scary to Us.
This essay calls back, in my opinion, to what Marc Augé, a French anthropologist, had to say about "Non-Places" and supermodernity. The horrific nature of the Backrooms has to do with its ambiguities, its lack of defined purpose, and the sudden isolation in simili-spaces (most "Levels" are callbacks to actual physical spaces we encounter in our dear world) where we are supposed to literally melt into the crowd. These worlds are not defined for life, they do not welcome you, you should only be here in passing, and yet you are stuck.
Valentina Tanni actually references Augé in her book! It’s not the topic you mentioned here, but it’s about the way the internet is so accessible now: “Today the television and computer have replaced the hearth. Hermes has taken Hestia’s place.” I should read his essay on non-places.
It makes a lot of sense to say that the Backrooms ejects you from the role you’re meant to play within a space as a passerby within a liminal space (either physically or temporally). You exist outside of that role that’s “meant to be” when in the Backrooms. And because you are the one who is not “meant to be”, you feel threatened that you need to be removed to restore balance.
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