Victor Turner
Victor Witter Turner (May 28, 1920 – December 18, 1983) was a British anthropologist who studied rituals and social change and was famous for developing the concept of "liminality," first introduced by Arnold van Gennep, and for coining the term "communitas." Turner's work revealed much about the processes of social change, both from the point of view of the individual experience and the development of common beliefs that characterize the social group. He researched the meaning of rituals and their symbolism in this context. Through developing the concepts of liminality and communitas as examples of unstructured community experience in which all members have the same social status, Turner suggested that human beings require time and separation from their social obligations to process and adjust to change.
Literature
- The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, 1969–.
- Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1975.
- Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives, New York: Columbia University, 1978.
