This thesis probes the possibility of gender-balanced theories of the rite of passage. The rite of passage makes individuals acquire specific identities and be incorporated into the society. And the society maintains itself by reproducing its members through the rite of passage. Scholars of anthropology and religious studies such as Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner, and Mircea Eliade have variously theorized the rite of passage. However, can their theories endure the test of gender problematics? To answer the question, I examine three topics. First, the three-staged structures of the rite of passage presented by van Gennep and Eliade. I also contrast them with Bruce Lincoln’s unique three-staged structure of the rite of passage. Here, I elucidate both the positive and negative aspects of those structures. Second, Turner’s concept of liminality and communitas. Following the criticism on Turner by Caroline Walker Bynum, I point out the androcentrism in Turner’s concepts. Third, I compare Eliade’s cosmological understanding of the sacred in the rite of passage with Lincoln’s critical understanding of the socio-political aspects of the rite of passage. Here, I show how Lincoln overcomes his previous gender-neutral fallacy by parting from his mentor Eliade’s romanticism. As conclusions, I reaffirm why the theories of the rite of passage should be re-examined in the light of gender problematics and suggest the need to compare and analyze diverse rites of passage to rectify the classical theories.

This thesis probes the possibility of gender-balanced theories of the rite of passage. The rite of passage makes individuals acquire specific identities and be incorporated into the society. And the society maintains itself by reproducing its members through the rite of passage. Scholars of anthropology and religious studies such as Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner, and Mircea Eliade have variously theorized the rite of passage. However, can their theories endure the test of gender problematics? To answer the question, I examine three topics. First, the three-staged structures of the rite of passage presented by van Gennep and Eliade. I also contrast them with Bruce Lincoln’s unique three-staged structure of the rite of passage. Here, I elucidate both the positive and negative aspects of those structures. Second, Turner’s concept of liminality and communitas. Following the criticism on Turner by Caroline Walker Bynum, I point out the androcentrism in Turner’s concepts. Third, I compare Eliade’s cosmological understanding of the sacred in the rite of passage with Lincoln’s critical understanding of the socio-political aspects of the rite of passage. Here, I show how Lincoln overcomes his previous gender-neutral fallacy by parting from his mentor Eliade’s romanticism. As conclusions, I reaffirm why the theories of the rite of passage should be re-examined in the light of gender problematics and suggest the need to compare and analyze diverse rites of passage to rectify the classical theories.

, , , , , , ,