Understanding Victor Turner's Theory Of Rites Of Passage

The Three Stages of Rites of Passage

Victor Turner was an anthropologist known for his theory of rites of passage. Rites of passage are religious ceremonies marking the transition from one life to another. Each society has their rites of passage. For example, a Maasai in Kenya and Tanzania had to kill a lion with a spear to be considered a warrior (Garwood, 2011). Also, the Aborigine people in Australia had to send their boys into the wilderness alone for fasting to endure life as well as find direction into their lives and transit from teenage hood to adulthood. This essay explores Turner’s theory of rites of passage. Throughout the paper different phases of rites of passage will be discussed along with their types and examples.

Turner’s theory of rites of passage postulates that there are three stages in the rites of passage. They include pre-liminal, liminal as well as post-luminal phases (Bell, 2003). In the pre-liminal phase, people seclude from their initial status as well as prepare to relocate to another place or state. This phase entails symbolic behavior implying the seclusion of a person or group from a fixed position in the society. There‘s usually a detachment from a former self in this stage, which is symbolized in actions as well as rituals. Taking an example, shaving of hair for an individual who has joined Special Force implies detaching from the former way of life.

The luminal stage is a period during states where an individual has left a state or place but has not joined the other. Here, a person is given a chance to have new perspective. In the post-liminal stage, a passage is consummated by a ritual object. However, after having gone through a rite of passage and assumed a new self, a person enters society as a new being with the new status. Holm and Bowker (1994) holds that reincorporation is attributed through rituals as well as ceremonies.

Turner postulated that humans require time as well as detachment from the social obligations to process plus conform to a given change. He argued that when people stay together irrespective of their tapping’s as well as accountabilities of their former positions in the society, similar participants in a transition to a new state, a  strong bond is created that might be the foundation of a new state in life, they are about to enter. Turner saw all rituals having spiritual or religious components in reference to the symbolism entailed. Besides, he also viewed ritual as an integral mechanism used in the transmission of the identity of a particular culture (Van Gennep, 2011). However, taking rituals and their symbolism into consideration alongside experience of communitas for individuals making transition from one stage to the next, are some of the Turner's contributing to the understanding of how human society can be made better 

Examples of Rites of Passage in Different Cultures

Since the 1960s the classic structural functionalist aspect on the rites of passage was challenged as well as reviewed.  The charge was however led by Victor Turner, an anthropologist who understood pretty well the contribution of structural functionalism in the study of rites of passage as well as the wider aspect of the rituals whilst pointing out their drawbacks. However, “the ritual process: structure and anti-structure” revealed the drama as well as the flux of social life plus showed the agency of rites in connection with the social change which he regarded to be their significant role. According to Turner (1996) rites of passage are antithetical to the already existing social structure as well as subjunctive since they allow for current possibilities. Rites of passage allow participants to experiment with other social relationships or establish new ones.

However, the people involved in the rites of passage might also take part in reversal roles. For example in the Ndembu people, Zimbabwe the elected crown takes the position of a commoner. In most cases, the participants might experience each other in an abrupt as well as direct ways as equals.  Turner termed this phenomenon as communitas.  He discovered that Ndembu males undergoing a transition from adulthood to manhood usually goes through the communitarian connection as they’re alienated from their society (Schouten, 1991). According to Schouten (1991) Communitas plus liminality altogether contribute to the social anti-culture, call the need to the articiality as well as arbitrariness of the social norms and structure

Another function of the rites of passage as per Turner is that they control the attention of community members to their society. However, Turner understood both social and ritual structure to be in dialectical relations.  Morris (1987) argues that rituals such as rites of passage come in response to a structure as well as its limits. First, the structure has a quality to organize a community so as to achieve their material needs as well as to draw a distinction in humans. Despite the fact that structure is a human necessity as per Turner, so does quality and directness. Rituals significant need is therefore to incorporate social status as well as roles with communitas, hence putting them all together for the service of human community plus the common benefit (Turner, 1996).

Turner used another example of the newly elected Ndembu kings to support his theory of rites of passage.  The rite where a king elect on his way to being coroneted as a king takes the role of a commoner such as ritual humiliation (Mahdi et al.,1996). The king is stripped off the stature as well as given low status prior to being exalted. In this aspect, humiliation is meant to remind the newly elect king that his office is for serving people and their needs, but not his self-interests. According to Turner, rituals that endorsed structural status quo were at a given moment “corralled” by individuals with interests in keeping existing relations. The ritual plus social authorities concerned with maintaining the status quo usually try to control the rites that proscribe social situations as well as identifies in the aspect of changes as well as crises that might challenge or change the standing social order. However, in such instances, ritual liminal, subversive as well as innovative capacities are circumscribed (Mahdi et al., 1996).  

The Role of Rituals in Social Change

Rites of passage are many, and they vary from one society to the other around the globe. Pinnock, and Douglas (1997) postulates that although most of the western society rituals might appear as rites of passage, they miss a few of the significant structural as well as functional ideals. Besides, in most African as well as non-American societies, the passage programs are performed by community-based groups.  Usually, the missing part here is the reincorporation as well as recognition stage.  Ideally, educational programs have been seen as rites of passage among some communities such as Canada (Pinnock and Douglas, 1997). However, rites of passage are of great significant for the nonreligious people. This is because they mark necessary changes and states in their lives as well as guide them in their undertakings. Some of the examples of rites of passage include;

This ritual occurs in different forms amongst diverse cultures and is one of the most popular rites of passage among the Africans. For instance, debutante balls, held in the quinceaneras, as well as western societies takes place in the Hispanic states, and they mark a girl's transition from teenage hood to adulthood. Another rite of passage is the “sweet sixteen” commonly found in America and is used as a celebration but also serves the same purpose as a rite of passage. Next is the “Poy Sang Long”, a ceremony done in Thailand and Burma to boys where they become monks and live the monastic lifestyle for on a temporary basis (Lertzman, 2002). This ceremony has also been considered as a rite of passage among Thailand and Burma people. In other cultures, scarification, female genital mutilation, and other painful endurances mark the coming of age in a person.

In 1920s Margaret Mead, an American anthropologist through her findings in “The Coming of Age in Samoa” observed and concluded that teenage hood in the area (Samoa) was not marked by anxiety, physiological or emotional distress or even confusion as often Perceived by Americans (Turner, 1996, p.276).

Irrespective of its widespread in the media, not every society goes through adolescence as experienced by Americans plus other western cultures. As a matter of fact, the rites of passage that Americans go through follow a hierarchical teen –oriented line. It starts at birth plus a child’s first steps as well as spoken words. It also entails childhood events like participating in gaming activities or learning to ride a bicycle (Mahdi et al., 1996). Besides, marriages as well as children are essential rites of passage in Amerce plus most other cultures including African societies. Despite the fact that most people around the globe and America will experience the coming of age as a rite of passage, the construction of aspect of such events as especially transformative in deeply grounded in a particulate identity across America. Another shocking coming into age rites of passage was practiced in Kenya and Tanzania. This passage involved sending a man (Maasai) into the wilderness with a spear alone to hunt for lion. Once the Maasai returned to the village after having killed the lion with the spear, he transited from being a coward or any other man in the society to a warrior (Mahdi et al., 1996). As of late, this rite of passage has passed with time and is no longer practiced in these nations

Communitas and Liminality

The events surrounding a person’s life such as birth, marriages as well as death practiced in almost every culture are significant rites of passage. Besides, the manner in which such ceremonies are celebrated differs significantly from one nation to another as well as culture, religious and ethnic groups. However, the beliefs plus the traditions surrounding such ceremonies could be elaborate plus complicated. Taking an example, traditional Hindu ceremonies lasts for thirteen days while hundreds of guest usually attends the Indonesian weddings.  In the western nations, brides usually receive engagement rings and the couples to wed hold bachelor as well as bachelorette celebrations prior to the main wedding (Holm and Bowker, 1994). On the other perspective, European brides plus traditional Americans wear white garments on their wedding, apparel that has been adopted by almost every culture around the globe. On the contrary, Muslims, Indians, Pakistani, Chinese, as well as Armenian brides wear red.

According to Garwood (2011) Sikh women wear white apparels when mourning which is relative to western cultures as well as some of the African traditions where they wear black. Although there are some variations within the Hindu cultures, women usually put on black or white apparels. As an example, Jewish mourners are presented with boiled egg on their return home after mourning as a symbol of life. The process and period of mourning also vary according to different traditions and cultures. For example, Muslims takes not more than four days to bury their dead, but for other communities like Luhya, Kenya, they mourn for ten days before burial (Golding, 1999). During their mourning process, the husband or wife to the dead person usually shares their matrimonial bed with the individual as a tradition.

As per the birth of a child, western cultures celebrate pregnancy with a baby shower. However, in the Jewish tradition, a boy undergoes circumcision as a rite of passage while at eight years of age. On the other hand, Hindus and Muslims shave their baby’s head on the seventh day right after birth (Mahdi et al., 1996). For the Africans, circumcision is not limited to a particular age. It can be done in childhood or teenage hood.  Essentially, not all cultures in Africa acknowledge circumcision as a rite of passage. In these cultures, circumcision is optional and depends on the willingness of a person.

Conclusion

This essay has discussed Victor Turner’s theory of rites of passage. Throughout the essay, it has been noted that rites of passage vary from one society, traditional and culture to the other. Besides, the three stages of rites of passage (pre-liminal, luminal and post luminal) have been discussed together with the types of rites of passage. To sum it up, it can be noted that rites of a passage help an individual transit from one state or stage in life to another. For example transition from teenage hood to adulthood through circumcision of the boys  

References  

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