Abstract
Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel American Gods is a dense, multifaceted, story-within-a-story homage to rural United States ӕsthetics through a journey of gods. I explore the nature of the multitudinous gods, and Shadow, within the liminal space Gaiman creates. In this, there are three key components to the novel most critics bypass entirely or dance around without ever truly digging in: the novel, first and foremost, is an exploration of how myth and mythic worship has transitioned and evolved within the U.S.; second, it serves as a “show-don’t-tell” exploration of the aftereffects of colonialism and imperialism; and third, Shadow is wholly a liminal figure, not a blank slate without purpose or agency. To do so, I utilize Victor Turner’s anthropological theory on the liminal and build off Sandor Klapcsik’s work on liminality within postmodern fiction - specifically detective fiction - to posit a working sandbox theory toward literary liminality. In examining Shadow, the Old Gods, the New Gods, and the ways in which they intersect, complement, and contrast one another, Gaiman highlights how the mythology of the U.S. has evolved over time, how contemporary myth is created in the digital age, and how these myths are both consciously and subconsciously utilized in everyday society. American Gods creates its own mythos, connected in a spider web to the gods’ own mythos, and helps shape contemporary mythos for the United States.