BINARY OPPOSITIONS IN SERBIAN FOLK CULTURE BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF NATIVE AND FUNERAL RITUALS

Abstract

The paper attempts to present some binary oppositions in Serbian folk culture based on the material of maternity and funeral rituals. In the mainstream of philosophy, binary opposition is not only a relation in a semiotic system in which a sign acquires its sense and meaning only through its relation to its opposite sign, but also a universal means of rational description of the world, where two opposing concepts are simultaneously considered, one of which affirms a quality, and the other denies it. Semantic binary opposition within traditional folk culture is a concept based on the opposition of two opposing but interdependent concepts or symbols. Binary opposition reflects not only a system of language or thinking, but also a popular worldview. Examples of such oppositions in traditional folk culture may include: life – death, good – evil, light – darkness, sky – earth, sun – moon, day – night, own – alien, etc. This work attempts to describe and analyze the following oppositions presented in Serbian maternity and funeral rituals: male – female, right – left, first – last, longitudinal – transverse, external – internal, even – odd, happiness – misfortune and some others.