ABSTRACT
The research consists in a theoretical part, which presents the main concepts such as role, status, relationships between roles, and a practical part, which applies the above concepts to an important and very solemn period, that is the New Year period. This 12 day-period includes three important holidays: Christmas, New Year and the Epiphany. This solemn interval promoted a specific strategic behaviour among the folk customs, and it is of high importance for the community.
The roles are analyzed in accordance with the status, the established forms and the relevant criteria: age, sex and marital status. The author largely describes the specific roles of children and of the group of unmarried young men, but also the one of men and women are also pointed out.
The analysis also includes the presentation of the specific elements of roles within the folk customs (Christmas Carols, The Star Procession, The Small Plough Procession, the wishes of good life expressed between New Year and the Epiphany and known as Sorcova, Chiraleisa, Iordanit). One important idea is continuously stressed: in the relation between roles, the traditional folk community constituted an active partner, by the associated gifts and feasts, as well as by permanent presence in the processions.
The research is meant to point out an important cultural reality: this solemn interval, known as the one of the “Greatest Holidays”, is characterized by a very individualizing feature: the presence of numerous various and complex folk roles.