Rites of Passage

The Audible Anthropologist

Rites of passages are a form of ritual: they are a ritual process which initiate a person into a new position in society, such as “married”, “adult”, “club member” etc.. Involving pain, fear and, humiliation, rites of passage are often intentionally brutal.

Profound anthropological analysis shows how rites of passage turn the world upside-down for initiates until they are ready to emerge with a new status. The initiate, in other words, is broken down and remade into somebody with the ‘right stuff’ to join the group.

Copyright 2012 Nicholas Herriman / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Please contact for permissions.