Arnold Van Gennep Rites Of Passage Summary

“Rites of Passage” by Arnold Van Gennep is highly recommended for anyone interested in studying anthropology. Van Gennep effectively explains and demonstrates his theory of Rites of Passage but, at times, confuses the reader by bringing up many examples without going into further detail about how the example relates to his theory. Despite this flaw, many anthropologists consider his work foundational because of his declaration of a human universality. Van Gennep’s theory on how rites of passage are divided into the three categories, separation, transition, and incorporation, is displayed and supported by all of his examples throughout the entire book. Each chapter in the book represents a stage of life such as pregnancy, childbirth, marriage, and funerals. With each life period, Van Gennep lists common rites of passages for many different cultures. After he explains the rites of passage for a certain subject, he sorts the actions or pieces of the rite of passage into his three categories. With the …show more content…
This book’s basic claim of the ability to sort rituals and rites of passage into 3 categories which cross cultures is well supported by many examples. His work demonstrates important human universalities that remains useful in anthropology. Van Gennep thoroughly explains how the rites of passage are universally used throughout all cultures. Although in some chapters he goes into immense detail that is not explained in the introduction or summed up to the potential it could be in the conclusion. All in all this book provides a conceivable ethnology and we would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding rites of