Abstract

The “transnational turn” in ethnic studies, women’s studies and American studies has shifted the discussion of identity by focusing on the space-between, the liminal space that emerges as a starting point of reflecting on one’s varied social locations.1 In this essay, I would like to theorize the philosophical underpinnings of identity formation and the social ontology of transnational identities through the works of Josiah Royce. In theorizing about the betweenness relation, I examine two concepts in Royce’s work—travel and home—in order to interpret Royce’s motivations and interests in conceiving his theory of community and provincialism. In this essay, I articulate the two requirements of the betweenness..