🌄 A border area 🌀 A fictional city

interzone

9.9

An imaginary place in stories between two worlds where normal rules do not apply

proper noun
/ˈɪntərzoʊn/

Literature

: Interzona

Many authors have drawn inspiration from Interzone as a metaphor for states of uncertainty and disruption.

Examples

In Burroughs' novel, the city of Interzone serves as a chaotic and surreal backdrop for his characters' adventures.
The place Burroughs referred to as "Interzone."

Stay (2020)
When Tangier was Interzone back in the day, it seemed to some I'm sure as if the ex-pats outnumbered the locals.

Stay (2020)
The concept of Interzone represents a world where traditional rules no longer apply, creating a space of limitless possibility.

Synonyms

no man's land

vsinterzone

Informal

4 7.4

A situation between two clear sides where rules are unclear

is more fictional and symbolic, suggesting liminal lawless space not just neutrality

interworld

vsinterzone

Literature

1 9.9

A space between different worlds that connects them

is symbolic and often lawless rather than merely a connector between worlds

twilight zone

vsinterzone

Informal

7.7

An unclear or strange situation between two states

is a fictional symbolic liminal place with chaotic, lawless qualities

heterotopia

vsinterzone

Jargon

9.9

A real or imagined place set apart from normal everyday spaces

is more literary and specifically liminal and lawless in symbolic fiction

Antonyms

order

∞ 1.0

The arrangement of things in a neat sequence

lawfulness

Formal

1 4.7

Being allowed by law

Surface Forms

interzone main

Morphology

interzone = zone (semi-transparent) = inter + zone

Formally 'inter-' + 'zone' is clear, but the proper-name/literary sense (a symbolic, liminal, often lawless place in Burroughs) departs from a simple geographical 'between zones' reading.

Etymology

Interzone comes from inter- 'between' and zone 'area', and writer William S. Burroughs used it as the name of a strange city where reality and fantasy mix. That's why interzone can mean a symbolic or lawless 'in-between' place.