ANTH 0538 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Fetal Position, Arnold Van Gennep, Norse Funeral
Document Summary
1) it represented a tear in their society. 2) the living were contaminated by death. 3) intermediary period was very dangerous the corpse could reanimate the ghost/spirit may haunt the living. Arnold van gennep (1873-1957: french sociologist. 2: interested in rituals, most important points in an individual"s life involve separation from one state/social category and subsequent incorporation into another state/social category. Transition is a gradual process: called the transitional phase the liminal period. Tied old status with new status through rituals. Rites of passage exhibit cultural diversity, but share six characteristics: 1) transitional. Move the person through the intermediary phase it is the duty of the living to move the dead through the ceremony. Determines whether the dead will get into heaven, instead of how the dead acted in life determining if the dead will get into heaven: 2) liminal phases exist between social roles. May combine elements of each status: 3) ambiguous/paradoxical behaviors liminal behaviors.
