The Role and Place of Mediation in the Structural and Functional Studies of the Cycle of the Ukrainian Wedding Ceremonies

Abstract

The aim of the article. The study of rituals, in particular of a family cycle, makes it possible to expand existing concepts of national culture and to deepen knowledge of how the ancestors lived and breathed and what they sought. Research Methodology. Structural and functional studies of traditional wedding ceremonies provide a broad perspective for obtaining new scientific results. The doctrine on mediation is a leading one in the structural theory and it gives grounds for its successful applying for the study of national wedding ceremonies. Results. Mediation in the structural theory is the main mechanism for provoking further action, which gives the participants an opportunity to perform the rite. The fulfillment of the mediation function in the national ceremonies of the wedding cycle is connected with the arrivals of mediator characters to the places of rites and the fulfillment of the necessary traditional ritual actions. In the rites that carry out the transition of the participants to new social statuses — engagement, wedding, tiny room — there is not one, but two media actions of various levels: classical, which reconciles the contradictions between antinomic couples and mediation, intended to provoke the course of further ritual action. Since the wedding initially divides all characters into two groups, characters from the bride’s team and the groom’s team are alternately involved in the mediation. Novelty. The study attempts to explore national rituals with the help of a struc-tural and functional method for the first time. The practical significance. The created structure of a large cycle of wedding ceremonies can contribute to further studies of traditional national rituals. Keywords: family rites, Ukrainian wedding, structural and functional method, mediation mechanism, mediator characters.