HE CHANGE AND FUNCTIONAL IMPERATIVES MODEL in FOLKLORE FOR STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM /YAPISAL İŞLEVSELCİLİK AÇISINDAN FOLKLORDA DEĞİŞME VE İŞLEVSEL ZORUNLULUKLAR MODELİ

Abstract

Structural functionality is based on the positivist philosophy tradition which is represented by scientists such as Comte, Pareto, Durkheim, Spencer, Malinowski and RadcliffeBrown among others, in terms of its origins. According to this theoretical approach, social unity, balance and harmony are shaped by the functional relationships between the whole system and its components. The importance of structural functionality in culture and folklore studies comes from it lends itself to shedding an objective light on the social whole, understanding change and transformation of structures, and thus determines functions of each sub-part within the social system. According to Parsons’s sociologic analysis method, one of the most important characters of structural functionality, every action system has four basic functional imperatives. The system itself and its sub-components are obliged to perform these functional imperatives. These functional imperatives are adaptation, goal attainment, integration and latency and pattern maintenance. Any malfunction that occurs in one or more of these imperatives will stimulate change of the structure. In other words, if the functionality has decreased or disappeared in institutions, i.e. in sub-parts of the system, then one of four results will happen: 1. A total variation in the structure. 2. A partial variation in the structure. 3. Destruction of the structure. 4. The Substitution of another structure for the said structure. As well as this formulation being a basic hypothesis of our article, it is in fact also a reflection of the contribution which we wanted to make to structural-functional analysis relating to “change”. Examples, which we gave generally from ritual-based folklore frameworks upon the relationship between change and functional imperatives model, can be enriched with those in other areas

Keywords

• structural functionalism; change; functional imperatives model; folklore; culture