The ritual as a structure: the problem of interpretation

The aim of this article is to analyze structuralist concepts which explore the ritual in terms of its universal structure. It allows creating a methodology for interpreting the ritual's meaning. From the viewpoint of V.Ya. Propp, there is a constant part in the ritual as well as in the case of a fairy tale. As a result, V.Ya. Propp actually implements structural analysis and introduces a classification of rituals. But the ritual (unlike fairy tales) is the sign and the means at the same time, in the sense that any ritual has the power or intention to change the present and the future and actually make the transition. R. Barthes links myth and ritual and proceeds to the new level of the ritual's meanings. On the other hand, he understands the myth as a secondary semiological system, the researcher significantly narrows the meaning and function of the ritual. The ritual of R. Barthes is no communication with transcendence. As a result of R. Barthes' investigation, we can distinguish the two dimensions in the structure of the ritual. The first is external; it is a one-tier system without internal plan. The second is internal; it uses the first dimension to construct its own meaning. E. Leach departs from the theological interpretation of the ritual, he, as well as the previous thinkers, pays attention to the social functions of the ritual. For the interpretation of the ritual's message E. Leach speaks of "thickening experience". Each ritual has a code which is possible to decode only being in its context. From the point of view of C. Levi-Strauss, the process of interpretation of a ritual action begins with the ritual's division into individual elements, because the most insignificant of them may contain more than the researcher assumes from the outside. As a consequence, each element in the structure of the ritual has its own clearly specified action; by identifying its place it is possible to fully understand the meaning of the ritual action. The violation of the law of emergence is a possible disadvantage of the proposed procedure for the interpretation of the ritual. It was concluded according to the study that the ritual is a multi-level system or communication in modern philosophy and the message of the ritual has its own intention. Structuralism representatives supposed that the task of deciphering the messages will be solved automatically by understanding the syntax of the ritual text. However, any ritual's partition on elements eliminates common sense encoded in it; but it allows to organize the levels of the ritual action, thereby it is possible to synthesize the proposed procedures of interpretation of the ritual.

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