While there have been a number of descriptions and interpretations of boys' initiation rituals, Audrey Richards's classic study of initiation rites among the Bemba remains one of the few studies to deal in detail with the initiation of girls into adult life. Dr Richards observed the entire chisungu or female initiation rite, an almost continuous series of complex ceremonies lasting for a month. Her detailed description of the elements of the ritual, and her analysis of it in terms of the culture of matrilineal society, have made this a classic ethnographic and theoretical text. Celebrating the attainment of sexual and social maturity, the puberty rituals reflect tribal attitudes to sex, fertility, marriage, and the rearing of children. We see how women's ceremonies portray and try to enforce the social obligations of marriage and the setting up of the kinship group, and the conflicts of interest that are involved.

奥德丽•理查兹（1899-1984），英国人类学家，其著作代表了20世纪中期人类学的发展成果，同时她也是对当时各种理论的批判者和反思者之一。她担任过英国的非洲研究学会第二任会长；1967年，作为英国社会人类学家被选为英国国家学术院院士。

张举文，美国Willamette University教授兼东亚系系主任、美国民俗学会执行理事会理事。他翻译的《过渡礼仪》的译文收到广泛肯定。