Liminal Nakedness and Transformation in the story of Susanna

Sammendrag

This article analyses the story of Susanna and the Elders from the Book of Daniel, as a transformational and liminal process. My focus is the role of nakedness in Susanna’s transition through distinct social and moral stages, within both the biblical narrative as well as in visual art through history. Using Victor Turner’s concept of liminality, I analyze nakedness as a liminal threshold and discuss how her initial state of innocence is transformed into one of shame and ultimately to glorified exoneration. The main question is what Susanna’s nakedness means in art and text, I explore how nakedness functions on different narrative levels, contributing to her journey from innocence to shame and eventually, vindication. By applying Turner’s theory to the narrative structure and its shifts, and by approaching Susanna’s nakedness as liminal, more complex layers of meanings and symbols emerge.