ANTH 4751 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Liminality, Gennep
Document Summary
Betwixt and between: the liminal period in rites de passage [turner] Society = structure of positions; liminality = interstructural situation. Found in all societies but reach maximal expression in small scale, relatively stable and cyclical societies, where change is bound up with biological and meteorological rhythms and recurrences rather than with technological innovations. State - relatively fixed or stable condition; legal status, profession, rank, degree; more inclusive concept than status or office and refers to any type of stable or recurrent condition that is culturally recognized. Defined by van gennep as rites which accompany every change of place, state, social position, and age. Separation - symbolic behavior signifying detachment of individual or group from either earlier point in social structure or series of cultural conditions. Margin - liminal state; ritual subject has ambiguous state. Aggregation - consummation; subject is at stable state once more. Not confined to culturally defined life-crises but may accompany change from one state to another.
