MORPHOLOGY OF MAGIC TRICKS

Abstract

It is considered in the article the possibility of a structural-typological description of magic tricks by their permanent structural elements, the relation of these elements to one another and to the whole. An analysis of the decomposition into component parts of magic tricks producing the main spectacular effects is given. Special attention is paid to the correspondence of the dedicated elements of the historical and cultural tradition of the comparative typological method of research. The probabilistic genesis of juggle is researched. The article demonstrates the practical application of the structuralist and historical-cultural methods proposed by V.Ya. Propp. The article is intended to form the theory of juggles, to eliminate the gaps existing in it. On the basis of fragmentary historical sources by the modeling cultural-historical processes method, a probabilistic version of the occurrence of juggle is proposed. Assessing the current social position of juggles as steadily non-criminal and the absence of any historical facts about the origin of juggles, as criminal practices, the article does not analyze an alternative version of the occurrence of juggles. From the standpoint of structuralism, an attempt to identify the structural patterns of juggle is made. The characteristic features of magic, especially its structure and process, are highlighted and described. In this article, magic is considered as a unity of mythological beliefs and ritual practices (mytho-ritual). Special attention is paid by the author to the status of the magician as a priority component of magic. Based on the study of magic, the author comes to the following conclusion: applied by magic, the techniques for maintaining the status of a magician, designated as profane practices devoid of sacred meaningfulness, separated from it during the decline of magic, formed a secular cultural phenomenon that was transformed into a cultural phenomenon called today juggles. The author sees confirmation of this version in the preservation of the semantic components in the juggles to this day – mythemes, magical ritual form and paraphernalia. Exploring the dynamics of cultural and historical processes from the standpoint of formalism, the author describes another phenomenon derived from myth – a fairy tale. The author claims that the presumed commonality of the juggles and fairy tales origin makes it possible to apply the methods of studying fairy tales to the study of tricks. The research method of fairy tales introduced by V.Ya. Propp in modern culture is recognized over genre. Based on this, the author conducts a structural analysis of foci using the method of V.Ya. Propp, aiming to establish the patterns of their structure. The article provides a detailed description of the action analysis of the characters and the juggles events, divided into groups according to the spectacular effect produced. In the research process in each focus, it was possible to establish repetitive uniform stable elements and give them a content specific to the genre of focuses. The number of characters in all the studied focuses was also the same. The analysis result generalization showed the structural uniformity of a wide variety of foci, which allowed the author to draw an informed conclusion about the structural uniformity of foci and establish a structuralistic definition of focus. In this study important is the preservation of the traditional generally accepted intergenre names of the selected elements, which keeps the focuses theory within the framework of general cultural notions. According to common practice, the stable elements highlighted in juggle were visualized. Images are given in the annex to the article. The establishment of the juggles structure uniformity and the production of focal “Propp cards” allows us to confidently assume their practical application.