GENNEP, Arnold van
- Era: 1873 - 1957
- Location: France
- Categories: SOCIAL SCIENCE
Major French anthropologist and folklorist, a gifted linguist. Best known for his notion of Rites of Passage. Documented from contemporary practice as well as primitive societies, he identifies the recurrent features of transition involved at birth, puberty, marriage and death. A threshold is passed through (hence the term ‘liminality’ from the Latin) involving a degree of uncertainty leaving behind a previously secure condition before arriving at a new status and identity. The passage is one of moral development.
Life
Work
Video