Final answer:
Liminality refers to a transitional phase during rites of passage where individuals are between social statuses, undergoing transformation before being reincorporated with a new identity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term liminality refers to a state in which an individual is viewed as being in a transition from one social stage to another, according to anthropologists Victor Turner and Arnold Van Gennep. In this phase, individuals are 'betwixt and between,' they have no social standing and are outside of the structure. It's often linked with rites of passage, where individuals temporarily lose their status, undergo instruction, and emerge with a new social identity. The liminal state is characterized by the shedding of an individual's previous status, the undergoing of trials or teachings to prepare for a new role, and they may follow prescribed behaviors related to humility or obedience.
Significant terms associated with this concept are 'communitas,' a sense of community among those in the liminal phase, and the eventual return to society with a new status, which is known as 'incorporation.' The liminal phase is crucial as it represents the period of transformation, defined by Turner as a form of 'social death' where one's previous identity is stripped away to make way for the new.