Crossing Borders: Liminality and Linguistic Exclusion in Carol Ann Duffy’s "Originally"

Carol Ann Duffy’s Originally is a haunting meditation on identity, memory, and the disorientation of migration. Drawing from her own childhood move from Glasgow to England, Duffy presents a deeply personal yet widely resonant account of displacement. Central to the poem are the intertwined themes of liminality—the experience of being caught between two states—and linguistic exclusion, the alienation that arises from being linguistically marked as "other." Through these lenses, Originally becomes more than a nostalgic recollection; it emerges as a powerful commentary on how language and place shape the self.

Liminality: Between Two Worlds

The poem begins in transit: “We came from our own country / in a red room.” Immediately, we are introduced to a liminal space—neither fully anchored in the past nor comfortably settled in the present. The "red room," suggestive of a car's interior, is not a home but a vehicle of transition. It becomes a symbol of in-betweenness, capturing the speaker’s position on the threshold of identities. The journey away from the known and into the unknown sets the tone for the rest of the poem, where identity is repeatedly questioned and reshaped.

Duffy masterfully evokes the experience of liminality through fragmented memory and uncertain belonging. The speaker reflects, “All childhood is an emigration,” a line that universalizes the disorienting process of growing up while reinforcing the poem’s specific concern with geographical and cultural transition. In this way, Duffy aligns personal development with the condition of migration, where the self is continually re-negotiated.

The speaker is not merely in a new place but in a state of becoming—no longer fully Scottish, not yet fully assimilated into Englishness. This unresolved state is echoed in the poem’s final question: “And I hesitate.” The line is stark and ambivalent, a refusal to claim complete transformation or resolution. The hesitation encapsulates liminality itself—a lingering in the space between what was and what is.

Linguistic Exclusion and Identity

One of the most poignant aspects of Originally is the portrayal of linguistic exclusion. Language, in the poem, is both a marker of identity and a mechanism of alienation. In a particularly vivid moment, the speaker recalls: “My brother swallowed a slug. / I stared at the eyes of a blind toy, / holding its paw.” These disjointed images reflect the sensory overload and emotional confusion of a child who lacks the language to articulate her loss. The inability to communicate—whether through unfamiliar accents, slang, or cultural references—compounds the sense of exile.

Later in the poem, Duffy writes, “I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space.” Here, “speech” is listed alongside tangible losses like geography and culture, elevating it to a fundamental component of identity. The dislocation experienced by the speaker is not just physical but linguistic: a severing from the familiar rhythms, tones, and idioms of her original voice. Speech, in this context, is not merely a tool for communication but a site of belonging.

Yet Duffy also acknowledges the tension inherent in linguistic adaptation. The speaker notes that her accent “was like a child’s,” suggesting that it was malleable, susceptible to change. The process of assimilation is almost involuntary, but it comes at a cost. She observes that “my tongue / shedding its skin like a snake,” a powerful image of transformation tinged with discomfort and betrayal. The simile evokes a sense of unease: while the shedding of language may enable survival, it also entails a loss of authenticity.

This loss is not only internal but socially imposed. The speaker is reminded of her difference by others: “Do I only think / I lost a river, culture, speech?” This self-questioning points to a broader reality where the migrant’s memory and identity are often invalidated or rendered invisible. The suggestion is that the pain of exclusion is exacerbated by the external world’s denial of that pain.

Conclusion: The Lingering Trace

Carol Ann Duffy’s Originally is an evocative exploration of what it means to live in between—between countries, identities, and languages. Through her deft use of imagery and structure, Duffy captures the psychological and emotional dissonance of liminal experience. At the heart of this dissonance lies the challenge of linguistic exclusion: the sense of being voiceless or mistranslated in a new world.

The poem does not offer neat resolutions. Its final line—“And I hesitate”—refuses closure, emphasizing that identity, especially for migrants, remains fluid and contested. In this hesitation, Duffy captures the enduring impact of migration on the self—a complex negotiation between remembering and adapting, between losing and finding one’s voice