On Self and Licensed Solitude: 'That very private fella, me.'.

This essay is written to show that a liminal, in-between space of withdrawal and dilly-daily disassociation can harbour a special station of the self. Further, I propose that incumbency of this station is, from time to time, essential. Life lived always and only in group-dependant association would be insupportable. My case is made with reference to Aborigines of northern Australia who say that they run together in mobs. Nonetheless, I see this essay as a culturally specific contribution to a general category for investigation - the sociology of licensed solitude. As it happens, my illustrative case has licensed solitude functioning sometimes and additionally as retreat or hermitage - that station of withdrawal into which a person enters when turning away from fellow-humans to seek inspiration from a Power. I compare the licensed solitude of the Aboriginal Countrymen with that of the academic who requires solitude as a station for that free interplay of primary and secondary imagination which sometimes may produce the anthropological sublime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]