Blocked Liminality: A Comparative Analysis of Two Liminal Female Figures in Iranian and Japanese Folklore Based on Van Gennep’s Three-Stage Model

In folklore, there exist heroes who stand on the boundary between two opposing realms (death/life, human/supernatural, nature/culture) and play a decisive role in advancing the narrative and testing the hero. This article analyzes two such "liminal women": the "Weaver Fairy" in the Iranian Folklore Eternal Life and "Yuki-Onna" (Snow Woman) in Japanese folklore. The aim of the study is to identify the pattern of functions of these heroes within the structure of rites of passage. The research method is descriptive-analytical and comparative, based on van Gennep's three-stage model and its extension by Victor Turner. The findings show that although the structure of these tales follows the classical pattern of passage, the two female heroes do not achieve full reintegration and remain in a state of suspension. Furthermore, the comparative analysis reveals that the two liminal women exhibit differences in their passage stages due to differences in the cosmology of the two cultures. The "Weaver Fairy," given the Iranian tradition (Zoroastrian-Islamic), which considers the entry of supernatural beings into the human world as exceptional and forbidden, is condemned to rejection and marginalization. Possessing "epistemic agency" (preserving the hidden knowledge of immortality) and avoiding the performance of feminine roles, she strives to maintain her authority, but ultimately falls victim to structural violence and is abducted and eliminated. In contrast, "Yuki-Onna," within the Japanese tradition (Shinto-Buddhism), where the boundary between human and supernatural has always been fluid and permeable, actively enters the human world by exercising "performative agency" and ultimately leaves it voluntarily.