The Liminal Experience: Loss of Extended Self After the Fire

Abstract

This article explores the traumatic loss of home through an autoethnographic account of the period of disorientation after a residential fire described by Turner as the “betwixt and between” stage of grief. The author explores her experience of a loss of extended self and illustrates in this personal account how technologies in the form of possessions extend the human self. The reflection is guided by McLuhan’s understanding of the extension of the body, Belk’s description of how the self is extended through possessions, and Bachelard’s understanding of the significance of the house. The narrative demonstrates the usefulness of autoethnography in understanding traumatic loss.