Культура України (Jun 2019)
Creating the Structure of the Cycle of Ukrainian Traditional Funeral Rites
Abstract
The aim of the article is to determine the criteria for the division of the structure of funeral rites into episodes and its interrelations with the rites of transition, which constitute the process of changing social status of the main object. The paper also defines the limits of the expansion of sacralization and its dependence on the compositional construction of ritual plots. Research мethodology. Structural and functional method is used, which is sufficiently progressive for the study of family rituals. Results. The construction of the basis for structural and functional study requires dissociation into episodes of the cycle of burial rites consisting of a prologue, preparation for burial, burial at home, burial in a cemetery, a memorial dinner, as well as other memorial days of family and calendar cycles. The criteria for such a division is a new-level, generalizing repeat of the event, material and spiritual metamorphosis of the characters of sacred action, change of the sacred chronotope, the principle of constant renewal and change in the nature of action. The next stage lies in the determination of culminating episodes of each rite, in which there are radical changes in attitude towards the deceased. The culmination of the memorial dinner should be considered eating kutia (boiled rice, wheat, etc, with raisins and honey eaten at funeral repast) by the present participants of the rite. Novelty. An attempt has been made to construct the structure of the cycle of Ukrainian traditional funeral rites within the framework of culture studies. The practical significance. The findings can be applied in new developments of funeral rite from the point of view of structural and functional analysis. The obtained results make it possible to consider the links between the individual rituals of the cycle much wider, compare burial with other ceremonial events.
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