Rites of Passage

(Life-cycle Rituals)
(Transition Rites)

-- rituals associated with important changes in personal status, such as birth, adolescence (usually puberty), marriage, and death

Index to Marriage and Kinship / Descent

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The classis work on rites of passage is by Arnold Van Gennep, Rites of Passage, 1909

• rites of separation
• rites of preparation
• rites of "aggregation" which incorporate the initiate into her/his new status

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• Rites of Intensification

• rites which reaffirm a status in society
  
  
  • e.g., confirmation in the Christian church

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• Rites of Passage
  (Life-cycle Rituals)
  Rite of Passage -- Wikipedia
  Initiation -- Wikipedia

• a ritual performed to mark a change in status from one life stage to another of an individual or group
  
  
• phases often include:
  
  
  1. separation

• initiate is separated physically, socially, or symbolically from normal life
  
  
2. transition ("liminal phase")
   
   
• person is no longer in the previous status, but is not yet a member of the next stage
  
  
• often involves the learning of specialized skills that will equip the person for the new status
  
  
3. reintegration
   
   
• initiate emerges and is welcomed by the community in the new status

 

• differences in the distribution of puberty rituals for boys and girls are thought to reflect the economic value and status of males and females within the society
  
  
  • most societies have some form of puberty ceremony for boys, but puberty ceremonies for girls are less common
    
    
    • this is related to the mode of production and gender division of labor
      
      
    • in societies where female labor is important and valued, girls have elaborate (and sometimes painful) puberty rites
      
      
    • female puberty rites often function to socialize the female labor force