Coming Of Age: Traditions and Rituals From Around the World

An anthropological perspective on coming-of-age rituals in societies around the world examines elements unique to specific rituals as well as elements common to all.

Grade 7-10-By examining puberty rites and coming-of-age ceremonies in various cultures, Liptak attempts to demonstrate some commonality among adolescents both within their own communities and around the world. She first examines some traditional tribal customs commonly performed in South America, Africa, Australia, and the United States. Ceremonies described include physical alterations (circumcision, clitoridectomy, boby piercing); isolation (during menstruation, to achieve visions, for symbolic rebirth), and ritual cleansing. The author then shifts gears and looks at how the major religions celebrate these rituals. The book concludes with a brief look at rites in modern industrial countries, such as the Hispanic quincea?os and Japan's Adult's Day. What results has the feeling of a college term paper. Coverage is uneven; some cultures receive extensive treatment while others are accorded only a few paragraphs. Sources of information are well footnoted. The bibliography, which is dated, includes both standard anthropological studies that will be inaccessible to this book's audience, and secondary sources written specifically for this age, but no distinction is made between them. Black-and-white photographs, most with poor contrast, are scattered throughout.
Jeanette Larson, Texas State Library, Austin
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Similarities among coming-of-age-rites (e.g., most cultures view the onset of menses as the passage into womanhood) and some striking differences (the Amazon's Yanomamis isolate girls during the first menstrual cycle; other peoples alter their appearance with facial piercing, hair cuts, body paints, etc.). Modern American teens will be fascinated by much of this, including the Mbuti pre-courtship ceremony wherein a girl chooses her betrothed by smacking him with a whip; the ``second'' circumcision (known as a subincision) of the Arunta of Australia; or the nasal operation that precedes placement of a decorative nose bone. In her globe-trotting coverage, Liptak weaves a multicultural sampling, concluding with a few customs found in industrialized nations, into a readable whole that will make a sound launching pad to research in greater depth. B&w photos; glossary; source notes; bibliography; index; (Nonfiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 7-10. After briefly defining adolescence and noting how the definition varies in different societies, Liptak establishes common themes in coming-of-age rituals, such as isolation, tests of endurance, and the sharing of food. In the next six chapters, she details specific rites--in the Amazon, in tribal Africa, among the Aborigines, in five Native American tribes, in world religions, and in industrialized countries today. Along the way, she discusses such sensitive issues as female circumcision. The chapters are organized accessibly for report writers, and source notes and a bibliography will make it possible for students to find additional material. Mary Harris Veeder