Rites Of Passage, By Arnold Van Gennep - 1547 Words

Introduction Rites of passage are rituals or events which are universally conducted for a variety of cultural, religious and social reasons. Grounded in everyday life, ritual is symbolic and emotional providing a transition of knowledge, behaviour and status, as Audrey Richards’s wrote, ’the use of symbols in ritual secures some kind of emotional compromise which satisfies the majority of individuals who compose a society and which supports its major institutions’ . These rites of passage, rituals or life cycles can represent a multitude of transitions and transformations; from a boy to a man or a warrior, a woman to a wife or entering the real world as child. This essay will examine life cycles or rituals of passage and how society structures this. Three main transitions or life cycles will be considered to explore this concept: birth, marriage and death, while Arnold van Gennep’s theory on rites of passage will be utilised to present ethnographic examples of ritual from Western, Chinese, Melanesian, Muslim, Indian, Pakistani, Armenian, Hindu, Papua New Guinean and South American societies. Rites of Passage Defining a rite of passage, commonly seen to be associated with or be a ritual, is complex when concerning multi-cultural interpretation and the global importance of the concept. However, Bobby Alexander’s definition provides an insight into the general understanding of what a rite of passage or ritual is, ‘†¦ a performance planned or improvised, that effects aShow MoreRelatedThe Rites Of Passage By Arnold Van Gennep1554 Words   |  7 PagesVan Gennep and Turner has introduced to all of us a different perspective in looking at and analyzing not only pilgrimage, but also how people understand and form ideas surrounding the change in states and statuses, and give meanings to the different parts of the journey. Through this transition, we will find that many of the societal roles of those who take on the journey are suspended. Particularly, Van Gennep discusses the 3 rites of passage using territorial passages to explain how the journeyRead MoreRituals of Transition Is Our Right of Passage Through Life Essay734 Words   |  3 Pagesevery culture passed down from generation to generation; seemingly, through time man has had a need to use rites to associate inductions into new phases of life. A Rite of Passage is â€Å"a ritual that marks an important stage in an individual’s life cycle, such as birth, marriage, and death.† (1) Daniel G. Scott of the University of Victoria, British Columbia has stated, â€Å"the rite of passage, known as initiation or coming of age, was the central cultural form for the education and nurturance of humansRead MoreThe Rites of Passage and Liminality Essay1016 Words   |  5 PagesThe Rites of Passage and Liminality Originally developed by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep in the early 20th century in his book Rites de Passage, the term liminality refers to the concept in which participants are in the threshold stage of disorientation and suspension from the previous social norm that they were used to. When an individual goes through a rite of passage—also coined by van Gennep—he is cut off from his â€Å"old life† and is born again into a new person. However, before he can fullyRead MoreMidterm Ritual Analysis By Emile Durkheim, Arnold Van Gennep, And Victor Turner2196 Words   |  9 Pagesframeworks established by Emile Durkheim, Arnold Van Gennep, and Victor Turner help to separate the ritual elements present in jury duty from aspects that are more representative of â€Å"technological routine†. British structural functionalist Arnold Van Gennep was studying in circumstances very different from the modern moment. Still, Van Gennep’s analysis offers a useful framework for understanding the stages of ritual. If one is willing to see jury duty as a rite of passage, a marker of adulthood within AmericanRead More`` Religion : The Basics `` By Malory Nye And The Philosopher s Stone889 Words   |  4 Pageswent through a rite of passage, a theory said by Arnold Van Gennep, the reductionist theory, the cognitive and effective belief by Gombrich, and the Habitus theory by Pierre Bourdieu, were some of the theories identified in the film. When looking at these particular events in the film, this film essentially underlies how religion can be in non-religious things, which would include movies. In this film, Harry Potter experiences the three stages of the rite of passage by Arnold Van Gennep. In the firstRead MoreRite of Passage Essay675 Words   |  3 PagesIn Conrad Philip Kottak’s â€Å"Rite of Passage† he mentions the three stages of a rite of passage. Anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep defines these stages as Separation, Margin, and Aggregation. Victor Turner, another anthropologist, focused on Margin, which he referred to as liminality. Not only can a rite of passage be an individual experience, but it can also be a communal experience which Turner called â€Å"communitas.† Many of us experience this â€Å"communitas† in different ways such as my Hispanic cultureRead MoreGender Transition Is An Intelligible And Recognizable Rite Of Passage794 Words   |  4 Pagesintelligible and recognizable rite-of-passage. Originally theorized by anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep (date), rites-of-passage configure social status-changes into a visible tr ipartite process denoted by a starting point of separation, followed by a transitional (or liminal) stage, and concluding with a reinstallation back into society under the new station (CITE). While the process is undertaken by, and therefore has been ostensibly created for, the individual initiate, rites-of-passage are constituted andRead MoreWhat Rules and Boundaries Govern Our Everyday Interactions2234 Words   |  9 Pagesalways obvious and spoken. Our society is made up of different cultures and social classes, however as individuals we all share one thing in common. â€Å"In our lives we will pass through many series of passages, from one state to another, usually marked through ‘special acts’ such as a ceremony â€Å" (Gennep, 1960). These special acts are constrained with rules and boundaries that aren’t inevitably apparent. Examples of these special acts include the engaging of romantic relationships as well as celebratingRead MoreThe As Rites Of Passa ge Coordinates891 Words   |  4 PagesTrans, as Rites-of-Passage Coordinates Gender transition makes for a provocative quilting point. It shapes various Western social conventions regarding binary-gender identities into an intelligible and recognizable rite-of-passage. Originally theorized by anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep (date), rites-of-passage configure social status-changes into a visible tripartite process denoted by a starting point of separation, followed by a transitional (or liminal) stage, and concluding with a reinstallationRead MoreGraduation Speech : A Rite Of Passage1527 Words   |  7 Pagesconsidered a rite of passage. Often, Americans couple graduation with a celebration of opening a new chapter of their life. Specifically, transitioning from a high school student to a graduate. In this essay I will explain what a rite of passage is and what graduation is. Also, I will discuss how graduation is approached as a rite of passage in my culture, and what celebration in regards to graduation looks like and means to many. Almost all, if not all cultures have rites of passage integrated into