"The novel transgresses the literary/genre fiction divide."
Is it proper to say that something transgresses a divide? Is a binary also transgressed? and can we use use the slash punctuation for the binary opposites as in here?
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Honestly, I wouldn't use transgress. The word means to sin, to err, to violate, basically to commit a wrong. The novel bridges or crosses the literary/genre fiction divide would be better, as these are just separate categories of fiction, and the novel is not doing any wrong by combining elements of both.– FeliniusRex - goneDec 2, 2021 at 13:40
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Many thanks! very helpful!– J MalaviyaDec 2, 2021 at 16:19
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Transgress means "to go beyond a boundary or limit" i.e. cross something you're not supposed to cross; this sense isn't found in FeliniusRex's alternatives. You can argue about the author's claims (1) that there's a real divide there and (2) that it's a transgression to cross it (against art, social convention, genre rules, or the Dewey Decimal System), but these debates are outside the scope of EL&U.– Stuart FDec 3, 2021 at 0:36
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Yes, what you wrote is fine. A quick Web search provided some examples:
. . . it is also problematic because it transgresses the public–private law divide inherent to Swedish law. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2427.12651)
. . . a longstanding Mediterranean identity that transgresses the Europe-Africa-divide. (https://www.bigsas-litfestival.com/) (The second hyphen in this example is unusual and unnecessary.)
Those examples use a hyphen, but there is no reason why a slash couldn't also be used to indicate such a division.
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