Rite of passage

A rite of passage is a ritual performed by people, either individually or as a social group. It marks the end of one phase of life, and the arrival of another.^[1]

All people in every society and culture experience rites of passage. They happen differently, for various reasons, and at special times, depending on what society or culture the person comes from. Rites of passage celebrate and protect the person or people who are changing. They signify the transformation from one social status (e.g. coming of age), place (e.g. crossing a national border), condition (e.g. recovering from sickness), time (e.g. celebrating the new year), to the next.^[2]

Arnold van Gennep

The French social scientist Arnold van Gennep (23 April 1873 – 7 May 1957) most famously defined the concept of rites of passage in his book Les rites de passage (The Rites of Passage), first published in 1909.^[3] Van Gennep studied ethnographic reports from various parts of the world that described rites of passage. He concluded that they are universally structured even if the rites of passage themselves differ significantly in character between societies and cultures.

The universal structure of rites of passage

Rites of passage are ordered into three phases.^[3]

1. Separation (Pre-liminal Rites): In this phase a person or group of people who are performing the rite of passage are removed from their society and depart from their existing status while preparing to move into the next.
2. Transition (Liminal Rites): The phase of a rite of passage that is in-between a persons or group of peoples departure from their previous status and their arrival into the new. This phase is often characteristically dangerous and wrought with uncertainty.^[4]
3. Incorporation (Post-liminal Rites): A person or group of people who completes the rite of passage accepts their new status and responsibilities and re-enters society.

Rites of passage and cultural diversity

By learning about the rites of passage of different societies and cultures perform rites of passage, we can understand others and ourselves. With awareness of cultural diversity, we can form an open-minded, tolerant and accepting view of people who are not from the same society or culture as our own.

Related pages

• Initiation

References

1. Eriksen 2010. Small places, large issues: an introduction to social and cultural anthropology'. London: Pluto Press, p67.
2. Hendry, 2008. An Introduction to Social Anthropology: sharing our worlds. (Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke), p77.
3. Van Gennep, (2004 [1909]). The Rites of Passage. (Routledge: London)
4. Turner, (1995 [1969], pp. 94). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. (Aldine Transaction: New Jersey).