Van Genneps' Rites of Passage and Durkheim and Turner's Theory of Communitas

Van Gennep's "Rites of Passage", Durkheim and Turner's Theory of Communitas

I. Classify using Van Gennep's categories and point out aspects which would be of particular interest to Turner and to Chapple and Coons.

The Mescalero girls' puberty ceremony is an example of a "Rite of
Passage," a ceremony that marks the transition of an individual from one stage of life to another (Chapple and Coons, p. 484). The ceremony marks the transition from girl to "mother of a nation" (p.252). The ritual serves as a means of establishing equilibrium after the crisis of puberty (Chapple and Coons,
p. 484). It is a method of making this transition from girl to woman easier.
I classified this ceremony as a Rite of Passage, rather than a Rite of
Intensification, because it is held in response to a non-periodic change
(puberty) and it affects the participants individually. The community plays an important role in supporting the girls-by building the tepee, for instance. At times, as when the boys join the Singers, the community actively participates in the ritual. However, the community is involved only because of its members' relations to the girls.

Van Gennep divides Rites of Passage into three parts: separation, transition and incorporation. In the Mescalero puberty ceremony, separation is achieved when the girls move in to their camp homes. During this stage, the
Godmothers and Singers take the role of the parents. This may be described as a "cessation of interaction between the individual and the group in which he or she has been interacting" (Chapple and Coons, p. 485). However, there is not a complete separation from the girls and the community. There are instances (such as the time when the participants sleep while the community holds contests) when the two are physically separated, but they are near their families and friends during most of the ceremony.

The stage of transition, or liminality, is a period in which the participants lie "betwixt and between" two poles (Turner, p.95). For the puberty ceremony, this period lasts for four days. In these days, the girls receive instruction from their elders-especially from Godmothers and the
Singers. For example, the Singer teaches the tribe's history through his chants and the Go...

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...s wind, rain and mountains-lies in the south. Man is in the north, held up by the other three directions. This can be viewed as a difference or similarity between the
Chamulas and the Mescaleros, depending on which of Gossen's informants you listen to. One person described the earth as being supported by man while another described the earth as being supported by bearers at all cardinal points. One of the main differences between the Chamulas and Mescaleros is the value they place on the right or left sides. Mescaleros give preference to the left, and their rituals are primarily clockwise in nature. Left is also connected to the heart, to God and the sun. The Chamulas give preference to the right and to the counterclockwise direction. The Chamulas connect women to the ground and to coldness. The Mescalero connects women to the ground and to heat. "Fire" is the primary symbol for the Mescalero women, particularly the pit fire. Many parts of the puberty ceremony involve the girls' sitting or lying on the ground, symbolizing a connection with Mother Earth. The Chamula's association between women and the ground, however, holds the negative connotation of "lowness."