On The Magic Mountain: The novel as liminal affective technology

In this paper we build on Szakolczai’s analysis of the sociological relevance of the novel to propose that novels can be regarded as a historically specific instance of what we call ‘liminal affective technologies’. We develop this proposition through a reading of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, to demonstrate that this novel not only represents – as Szakolczai already argues – the reflexive culmination of a historical movement towards permanent liminality, but also a performative meditation on the role of ‘liminal affective technologies’ in metabolising experience and channelling psychosocial transformations.