Словесното описание на обреда във фолклорната култура
The Verbal Description of Ritual in Folk Culture

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt to determine the place of the verbal description of a ritual practice (here called ritua1ography by the author) within the system of folk culture. The ways ritua1ography functions in cases of an existent ritual practice, one dying out, and one within the contemporary model of culture are examined. The different modes and forms determining what and how one is to perceive from the surrounding world are believed to account for the differences in terms of function. In the case of a living ritual practice, the description preceding the rite gets closer to the myth-script in terms of function, whereas the same description has a predominately informative function when it is made by a non-member of the community. A distinct evaluative characteristic marks the rite’s description that has turned into an existential standpoint of the folklore bearer under the conditions of a folklore practice, which is dying out. Comparison between the ritual and its verbal description has been drawn in terms of function. The same comparison in terms of aesthetics has been carried out on the genre level: the rite is seen as a well-defined folklore genre, while ritua1ography is found to be in the process of genre formation. The latter is associated in this respect with the history of the folktale, with the tale in its early stages being regarded as a description of the rites of initiation and the wedding ritual practices related to them. Finally, the author outlines the directions which modern studies of ritua1ography should take with regard to methods of research.

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