ЕТНОСОЦИАЛНИ КАТЕГОРИИ И ДЕМОНОЛОГИЯ
ETHNOSOCIAL CATHEGORIES AND DEMONOLOGY

Summary/Abstract: In this article the specifics of demonic characters is studied. They are interpreted as a horizontal (changing the image) projection of disturbers of social norms in the community. Here are worked out criteria for the perception of the members of the community as "close = not stranger", i. e.: appurtenance to the same ethnos; behaviour, corresponding to the norms of the community; normal physical aspect; profession with a positive social status, etc. The representation of the mentioned criteria as a "paradigm" shows that the elevation from one of another characteristics determines the perception of the individual by the community as "close alien" The intermediate link between human and demonic is the spirit of the ancestor, charged with mediating functions and existing both in the visible and the invisible world. Very important for the perception of the attestor as "close-alien" is his belonging to the clan, to the family. In the second part of the article are viewed some demonic characters, functioning in the frames of the "cultured" space in transitional periods of calendar and human life cycle: navljace, orisnici, deseases, poqanci, etc. The comparison of "close-alien" members of the community to the "alien" demons, provokes the conclusion about their genesis, semantics and functions. Here appears the intersanctioning link or human demonic (or in a broader sense Cosmos-Chaos). The article is based on data from Bulgarian folk culture in the period from the end of XIX to the middle of XX c.

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