Samenvatting The Rites of Passage – Arnold van Gennep
Chapter I – The Classification of Rites
Each society contains several separate social groupings.
o The groupings hold a hierarchy with different degrees of autonomy.
o The only clearly marked social division remaining is between profane and sacred.
o All groups break down in smaller subgroups.
To pass from one group to another group requires the fulfilment of certain conditions.
o For profane groups these requirements are economic or intellectual.
o For sacred groups these requirements are ceremonial and moral.
o Low on the hierarchy the secular is often dominated by the sacred.
This makes the life of an individual a series of passages from one age or occupation to
another, by which progression is accompanied with special acts (ceremonies).
o This guides a person through birth, puberty, marriage, fatherhood or pregnancy,
class advancement, occupational specialization and eventually death.
o In semi-civilized societies this forms the very fabric of existence, it governs the
universe and in that way has repercussions on the human life.
Classification of ritual dynamics (see p. 14)
Sympathetic rites: based on belief in the reciprocal actions two elements.
Contagious rites: based on belief that acquired characteristics are material and transmissible.
Animistic rites: study of the holy, the pure and the impure, power personified in beings
Dynamistic rites: study of concepts of power, the impersonal theory of mana.
Direct rites: designed to produce direct results, without outside intervention.
Indirect rites: initial movement sets an autonomous and personified power in motion.
Positive rites: accepted practices.
Negative rites: taboos and prohibitions.
Rites of passage
This allows for understanding of ceremonial patterns concerned with transitions: rites of passage.
o Rites of separation (preliminal): f.e. funerals
o Transition rites (liminal): f.e. pregnancy, initiation
o Rites of incorporation (postliminal): f.e. weddings
These phases always exist, but their importance can vary greatly.
Besides being rites of passage many ceremonies also have their own specific function.
The sacred and the rites it involves are variable, it’s formed by the circumstances of a situation.
When the life of society and the individual is disturbed rites of passage reduce the damage done.
Chapter II – The Territorial Passage
The crossing from one country to another used to be accompanied by political, legal,
economic and sometimes religious obligations and formalities.
A territory is often marked with some kind of beacon, indicating that one group with one
religion claims this particular land. To enter it means intruding as a profane person.
o Surrounding these “islands” is a neutral zone that is sacred to all adjacent territories.
o To cross a boundary requires a rite of passage to purify an outsider.
Chapter I – The Classification of Rites
Each society contains several separate social groupings.
o The groupings hold a hierarchy with different degrees of autonomy.
o The only clearly marked social division remaining is between profane and sacred.
o All groups break down in smaller subgroups.
To pass from one group to another group requires the fulfilment of certain conditions.
o For profane groups these requirements are economic or intellectual.
o For sacred groups these requirements are ceremonial and moral.
o Low on the hierarchy the secular is often dominated by the sacred.
This makes the life of an individual a series of passages from one age or occupation to
another, by which progression is accompanied with special acts (ceremonies).
o This guides a person through birth, puberty, marriage, fatherhood or pregnancy,
class advancement, occupational specialization and eventually death.
o In semi-civilized societies this forms the very fabric of existence, it governs the
universe and in that way has repercussions on the human life.
Classification of ritual dynamics (see p. 14)
Sympathetic rites: based on belief in the reciprocal actions two elements.
Contagious rites: based on belief that acquired characteristics are material and transmissible.
Animistic rites: study of the holy, the pure and the impure, power personified in beings
Dynamistic rites: study of concepts of power, the impersonal theory of mana.
Direct rites: designed to produce direct results, without outside intervention.
Indirect rites: initial movement sets an autonomous and personified power in motion.
Positive rites: accepted practices.
Negative rites: taboos and prohibitions.
Rites of passage
This allows for understanding of ceremonial patterns concerned with transitions: rites of passage.
o Rites of separation (preliminal): f.e. funerals
o Transition rites (liminal): f.e. pregnancy, initiation
o Rites of incorporation (postliminal): f.e. weddings
These phases always exist, but their importance can vary greatly.
Besides being rites of passage many ceremonies also have their own specific function.
The sacred and the rites it involves are variable, it’s formed by the circumstances of a situation.
When the life of society and the individual is disturbed rites of passage reduce the damage done.
Chapter II – The Territorial Passage
The crossing from one country to another used to be accompanied by political, legal,
economic and sometimes religious obligations and formalities.
A territory is often marked with some kind of beacon, indicating that one group with one
religion claims this particular land. To enter it means intruding as a profane person.
o Surrounding these “islands” is a neutral zone that is sacred to all adjacent territories.
o To cross a boundary requires a rite of passage to purify an outsider.
