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The article considers the existing options for classification and division into constituent elements of the wedding rite cycle. This practice is necessary for further creation of own structure of the Ukrainian wedding rite for its structural and functional research. In the process of studying, the selection of the most expedient and reasonable forms of division made by the predecessors is carried out. In particular, the division into three cycles of rites, which is popular for most modern research, the division into particular rites, known since the 70s of the XIX century, as well as the division of myths into mythemes, proposed by K. Levi-Strauss, which is quite acceptable for decomposition of the Ukrainian traditional wedding rites into episodes. The basis of the study is the use of own approaches to the decomposition of a large wedding cycle into three small cycles – pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding; small cycles into particular rites (pre-wedding – matchmaking, engagement, viewing of the bride, torochyny, loaf making, hiltse; wedding – church wedding, redemption of the bride, untwisting braids, arrival of the bride to the groom’s apartment, komora; post-wedding – dowries, pereima, perezva); rites – into constituent episodes. As a result, 14 rites were received, which are divided into three small cycles: pre-wedding – 6 (1-6), wedding – 5 (7-11), post-wedding – 3 (12-14). Thus, it is possible to build a coherent and functional structure, which will be successfully used to study Ukrainian weddings within the introduction of the method of structural and functional analysis to identify the composition of rites, mediative actions and mediating characters, expanding chronotope and sacralization of reality when ritual actions, etc. Herewith, the way of studying the cycle of wedding ceremonies can be inductive – from episodes, through rites and small cycles to a complete cycle of cycles, and deductive – from a large cycle, through small cycles and particular rites to specific episodes. When using the deductive method of research, the units of analysis decrease, the inductive – increase and generalize.
Oleksandr Kukharenko (Fri,) studied this question.