Up: [[The In-Between Times]] Created: 2025-01-11 Ethnographer and folklorist Arnold van Gennep wrote a book in 1909 called *The Rites of Passage*. His interest was in times that involve a change of status for the individual. He took as his model the passage from childhood to adulthood as it was exemplified in the initiation rites of adolescent boys in Malawi. van Gennep found a three part structure which he believed was a pattern that fit all rites of passage. The three parts are - **separation** — the boys were separated from their families in a symbolic ‘death’ of their childhood - **liminality** — the boys had to pass a test or series of tests to prove they were ready for adulthood. The tests were externally challenging because they need to create inner psychological change. - **incorporation** — if the tests are passed, the boy is ‘reborn’ as an adult and welcomed back into society.