FRAME-SCRIPT ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIVE-BEHAVIORAL RITUALS OF

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

Stîncă Natalia
Liceul Academic de Arte Plastice ”Igor Vieru”, mun. Chișinău, Republica Moldova

This article deals with the description of the communicative-behavioral rites of

Christmas and the presentation of a scheme of the events under consideration, using frame-
script as a tool of linguistic analysis.
As it is well known that in each culture of a certain linguo-cultural community, there is
its own system of cultural norms, which are generally recognized rules or patterns of behavior
which constitute the normative system of the culture. It is not a chaotic sum of disparate
elements, but a mobile integrity, all parts of which are connected to each other and perform
certain functions that allow to change elements depending on the changed situation, which
ensures maintaining stability over centuries. Indeed, the normative systems of the great
cultures of the past and present, be it ancient Greek, ancient Egyptian, Byzantine, Chinese,
French, English or Romanian, have maintained their stability for a very long time. Thanks to
them, the spiritual unity of the nation, ethnic self-consciousness and the ability of the people
to constant creative search were preserved.
Thus, cultural norms are some kind of ideal models that prescribe what people should
say and do in specific situations. Consequently, the entire social system of the life of society
and its individual members is permeated with cultural norms.
The normative system of culture is based on such types of norms as customs, traditions,
habits, rituals, etc. According to V.I. Polishchuk, a custom is “a traditionally established order
of behavior. It is based on habit and refers to collective forms of action” [7, p 52]. So, for
example, the British still adhere to such customs as driving on the left or playing cricket. Until
1971, they had a three-level non-decimal monetary system. While the rest of Europe measures
distances in kilometers, the British still use miles. All these testify to the attachment of the
inhabitants of Great Britain to the customs and traditions that have been formed and passed
down from generation to generation for many centuries.
If habits and customs pass from one generation to another, they turn into traditions. In
this regard, tradition should be understood as “the handing down of information, beliefs, and
customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written
instruction.” [4] Some traditions are performed in a casual setting, while others are performed
in a festive setting. They belong to the cultural heritage, are surrounded by honor and respect,
serve as a unifying principle. Great Britain is famous for its age-old traditions, the spiritual
aspirations of the English people. The British are proud to be markedly different from any
other nation in the world. They strictly follow their traditions, customs, which have been an
integral part of the public life of people for many centuries and have been invariably observed
to this day. These include the traditions of holding various holidays, planned events and
significant events.
A kind of tradition is a rite, or ritual, which is a set of actions established by custom. As
defined by Eric W. Rothenbuhler: “Ritual is the voluntary performance of appropriately
patterned behavior to symbolically effect or participate in the serious life” [5]. I.A. Sternin
distinguishes three main groups of rituals: behavioral rituals - purely physical;
communicative-behavioral - unifying rituals of behavior and communication; verbal and
communicative. We tend to understand communicative-behavioral rituals as “certain
sequences of symbolic actions and acts of communication given the order of actions of the
participants” [8, p. 110]. Such rituals include the considered rituals of celebrating Christmas.
Since the ritual is a form of material existence of the culture of a certain linguo-cultural
community, in our case, the English-speaking community, and conveys the specifics of its
content, it is advisable to refer to such concepts as frame and scenario. A person perceives and
understands everything according to a certain scheme, which allows him/her to process
information in one way or another. Communication turns out to be possible only if there are,
some semantic, informational condensations, i.e. frames, in the minds of the speakers and in
their picture of the world. In other words, a frame is a static information structure that
underlies the representation of a stereotyped situation and is supposedly implemented by the
forms of the language of a certain linguo-cultural community. Such stereotypical situations
that exist within the framework of the English-speaking culture include the considered
communicative-behavioral ritual.
As for the concept of a script, a frame-script or scenario is a typical structure for some
action, concept, event, i.e. a script is “a dynamically presented frame as a certain sequence of
stages, episodes, etc. unfolding in time.” [6, p. 37].
Consequently, the communicative-behavioral ritual of celebrating events or the
stereotypical situation of celebrating correlates with the concept of a frame, which implies a
meeting of a group of people for any reason at a particular place and time. At the same time,
since the situation under consideration implies the dynamic development of an event in time,
the object under consideration belongs to the category of frame-scripts or scenario.
On this basis, the structure of the scenario of the event celebration or the stereotypical
celebration situation includes three main stages: the meeting, the event itself, the parting.
At the first stage, the participants of the scenario meet. This stage is characterized by
non-informative communication (phatic communication) and is accompanied by ritual speech
stereotypes (greetings, congratulations, thanks), the behavioral component may include the
exchange of kisses, shaking hands, depending on the proximity of the participants.
The second stage of the scenario is the actual celebration of the event, accompanied by a
meal in the process of dialogical communication. As part of this stage, the conversation
becomes more informative: the participants exchange certain information.
The final stage illustrates the end of the event and the parting of the participants. It
should also be noted that all the rituals under consideration have the obligatory attributes of
the conduct: decorations, treats, gifts, festive clothes.
Let us consider the ritual of celebrating Christmas. In all European countries, and in
particular in the UK, on Christmas Eve, schools and institutions are closed for a two-week
Christmas vacation, and from the very beginning of December and even earlier, Christmas
markets open in stores (the Christmas sale begins). It is associated with the custom of giving
gifts on Christmas to all close relatives. The example below describes decorations that are
traditionally used at Christmas:
“It was damp and weirdly warm. In less than four weeks it would be Christmas. Every
high street in the city had its lights up, the Santa Claus, the swinging bells, the Disney
characters. Shop windows glittered with tinsel and baubles. There were already Christmas
trees outside the greengrocers’ shops, leaning against the wall with their wide branches tied
up with string. Some doors in the street where I lived had holly wreaths on them. The shelves
in the supermarkets were loaded with crackers, mince pies, Advent calendars, boxes of dates,
vast tins of chocolates, frozen turkeys, bottles of port and sherry, little baskets of bath salts
and soaps, CDs of seasonal music, humorous books, crappy stocking fillers. The brass band
played “O Little Town of Bethlehem” outside Woolworth’s. Women in thick coats rattled
collection tins in the cold” [1, p.151].
Christmas dinner is one of the most important attributes of Christmas in Britain. On the
eve of the holiday, the whole family, as a rule, gathers at the parents' house. Traditionally, a
hearty dinner is prepared - fried turkey with potatoes, various vegetables (carrots, peas,
Brussels sprouts) and gravy. Traditionally, after the turkey, for dessert, they eat a Christmas
cake, which is decorated with spruce twigs and flowers of fruit plants specially grown for the
holiday [3].
Let us consider an example that shows the second stage of the scenario, where the
participants discuss the festive treat, which is one of the compulsory attributes of Christmas.
Fred and his wife Clara, and their friends are celebrating…
Fred: Well, Clara, you’ve outdone yourself once again! A passable meal! (Teasing.)
Clara: (Pouting.) Fred, you are heartless!
Topper: Do not listen to a word he says, Clara! The meal was superb! And I believe I
am a qualified judge. (Patting his stomach.)
Fred: Come now, Topper. You are just an old bachelor. Any home-cooked meal seems
superb to you!
Julia: Then I believe I could be deemed a qualified judge and I pronounce the dinner to
be admirable! … [2]
In this example, one can also see ritual speech stereotypes of gratitude for organizing
the festivity, as well as a mention of one of the indispensable attributes of the celebration –
the dinner.
At the final stage, the communication is phatic in nature and is accompanied by ritual
speech stereotypes (farewell, gratitude), the behavioral component may include the exchange
of kisses, shaking hands, depending on the closeness of the acquaintance of the participants.
Having considered the structure of the scenario of communicative-behavioral rituals of
celebrating Christmas within the framework of the English-speaking culture, we revealed that
it consists of three interrelated stages: meetings, the actual celebration of the event and
parting. The initial stage describes the meeting of people, characterized by phatic
communication and the use of ritual speech stereotypes (greetings, congratulations, thanks).
The second stage of the scenario is the actual celebration of the event, accompanied by a
meal. Within this scene, the conversation is more informative.
The final stage, parting, illustrates the end of the event and is characterized by the use of
ritual speech stereotypes (farewell and gratitude). Communication of communicants at this
stage is phatic.
Summing up, we can say that the communicative-behavioral rituals of celebrating
events play a huge role in the life of the English-speaking society and form the basis of the
culture of this society. The tradition of holding holidays and organizing various events is a
vivid example of the manifestation of the cultural peculiarities of the country.
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https://www.dramatix.org.nz/archive/Christmas/purpose_driven_christmas_carol.html
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