Rites of Passage in Australia :: essays research papers

Rituals act as signposts to assist us in recognizing the magnificence of particular passages in our lives. In an Australian context, the passage from childhood to due date is less formal, however, it mirrors the parking area structures found in ceremonys of passage and ceremonial creative activitys in most elaborations. The transition from secondary to tertiary education, a progression from hotshot liminal space to another, is a process which also has structuralized favorable conventions the rituals of high give instruction graduation, the transitory plosive consonant of liminality, the assimilation into university society. Societys formal rituals function to signpost the individual through the transitory process and to recognize the potential stressors associated with this period to provide a path through the liminal state.The final course of secondary education, a period of life with mutual experiences for all graduates, is attended by a level of chumminess and recogn ition of common equivocalness of amicable government agency. All nonliminal distinctions disappeared (Schultz & Lavenda, 2005, p.167) as we were unified by the common rite of passage we were undertaking. Arnold Van Gennep (1960) noted that any movement within the sociable structure involves a temporary insulation from the individuals role in that society (Schultz & Lavenda, 2005, p167). In Kung culture, the formalized separation during the male initiation ceremony of Choma, demonstrates the structure found universally in most rituals of social movement, as well as the necessity for a period of separation from social role (Shostak 2002, p.215). Separation from the social position of boys under the agency of the academic institution, was a process principally marked by carrier bag from the restraints and regulations of high school life, and an introduction to the responsibilities of manhood. The ritual of the graduation ceremony symbolizes this comradeship through the celebration of the essential and genetic human bonds (Turner 1969, p.97). This bond was the social transition common to all graduates, and provided personal comfort in the acquaintance that this process was natural and therefore, nobody was alone on that path to adulthood.The period of time after graduation, and the rituals associated with that time result from the liminal state of social right experienced by most after graduating drop of social role, lack of structure and potential danger are all aspects of this phase. Australian culture has labeled this group high-school Leavers, as many behavioral traits are common to this entire group. As a Leaver, ritualized behaviors are associated with the individual victimization ritual and communitas to cope with a new paradox freedom and release from previous social restraints brings greater social expectation and responsibility.