Transition rituals in the interpretation of Arnold van Gennep

The article discusses transitional rituals accompanying the key moments of human life, marking his transition to another social status. An in-depth study of the rites of passage was held Arnold van Gennep. Later his ideas were developed by V. Turner in his works on the study of liminal periods. Van Gennep singled out rites of passage three mandatory stages: preliminary (division), liminary (intermediate) and postliminary (inclusion), noting that all three stages of the rite of passage are included in every ritual cycle, but the most pronounced are certain aspects that depend on the essence of ritual and tradition. The research of A. van Gennep seem to be particularly relevant in the context of studying modern cultural rites of different ethnic communities.