Folklorist Arnold van Gennep's masterwork, The Rites of Passage, has been a staple of anthropological education for more than a century. First published in French in 1909, and translated into English by the University of Chicago Press in 1960, this landmark book explores how the life of an individual in any society can be understood as a succession of stages: birth, puberty, marriage, parenthood, advancement to elderhood, and, finally, death. Van Gennep's command of the ethnographic record enabled him to discern crosscultural patterns in rituals of separation, transition, and incorporation. With compelling precision, he elaborated the terms that would both define twentieth-century ritual theory and become a part of our everyday lexicon. This new edition of his work demonstrates how we can still make use of its enduring critical tools to understand our own social, religious, and political worlds. Featuring an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning anthropologist and historian David I. Kertzer, this edition reminds readers just how startlingly insightful The Rites of Passage remains a century after its initial publication.

About the Author
Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957) was a Dutch-German-French scholar without a permanent position who lived by writing, translating, public lecturing, and a variety of temporary jobs, including chicken farming. David I. Kertzer is the Dupee University Professor of Social Science and professor of anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University. In 2015, he received the Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his book The Pope and Mussolini. He is the author of many other books, including Ritual, Politics, and Power, Prisoner of the Vatican, and Amalia's Tale.


Book Information
ISBN 9780226629490
Author Arnold Van Gennep
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press