Ukrainian folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and among ethnic

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

. The earliest examples of folklore found in Ukraine is the layer of pan-Slavic folklore that dates back to the ancient

Slavic mythology Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and ...

of the Eastern Slavs. Gradually, Ukrainians developed a layer of their own distinct folk culture. Folklore has been an important tool in defining and retaining a cultural distinctiveness in Ukraine in the face of strong assimilatory pressures from neighboring lands.

Distinctiveness

Ukrainian folk customs have numerous layers defined by the period in which that aspect developed and the area in which it was exploited. The lowest and oldest level is the pan-Slavic layer of folk culture which has many elements that are common to the Slavic people in general. Above that are elements common to the Eastern Slavs, and above that are elements found only in Ukraine itself. The layer above this contains cultural and folkloric elements that define the various micro-groups of the Ukrainian ethos such as the Boykos,

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Lyshaks, Podolians and

Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...

Folk beliefs

Folk customs

Ukrainian folk customs and rites were rituals connected with the calendar and with the course of human life. They were often accompanied by religious ceremonies, incantations,

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

s, dances, and dramatic plays. Life cycle rituals mark birth, marriage, and death. Many of these customs are ancient and have blended in many cases with

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

rites. They can be divided into three categories:
Folk customs and rites
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Encyclopedia of Ukraine The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies. Development The work was created under the auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe (Sarcelles, near Paris). As the ...

. * familial customs and rites - which consist of

birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

, and

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

rites * seasonal-productive customs and rites - which are tied to

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, herding, and

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

tasks * communal customs and rites - which mark certain events in the life of the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Folk customs have undergone many changes in Ukraine as modern culture was introduced. Under the Soviets, folk customs were unsuccessfully suppressed. Believers still practiced the Christian customs, and some people in the country even revived the ancient customs and rites. Many Christian rites have been revived in post-Soviet Ukraine after 1991, especially in western oblasts.

Folk dances

Dance has existed in Ukraine as a ritual since ancient times, but it was mostly absorbed by Christianity and blended with Christian rituals.
Folk dance
' at the

. The earliest dances were

circle dance Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of Partne ...

s concerned with agriculture. Dances took place on Ivan Kupala day, St. George's day,

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

, days of harvest, and weddings. Ritual dances were rarely performed to music, and usually to a chant.

Folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...

s were performed with or without music. The majority of Ukrainian folk dances are circular. Some of the most famous dances are the Arkan and Hopak. Dance was also enriched with traditional Ukrainian folk dress. Today many Ukrainian dance groups exist in Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora, particularly in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and have kept the tradition of folk dancing alive.

Folk songs

Ukrainian folk songs can be divided into four basic groups:
Folk songs
' at the

. * ritual songs - such as carols (''koliadky'' and ''shchedrivky''), spring songs, songs about nymphs ( rusalka songs), and Kupala festival songs * harvest songs and

songs * historical songs and political songs - such as dumas and ballads * lyrical songs - such as family songs, social class songs, and love songs Ukrainian folk songs contain an abundance of

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

ism.

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

symbolism is popular. The

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

or falcon is the symbol of manliness, power, beauty, courage, and freedom. The dove symbolizes femininity. The sea gull is the symbol of the suffering mother. Other symbols include the

viburnum opulus ''Viburnum opulus'', commonly known as the guelder-rose, or guelder rose (), is an Old World species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae. Description ''Viburnum opulus'' is a deciduous shrub growing to tall. The leaves are opposite, th ...

or guelder-rose (''kalyna''), which represents a beloved girl or Ukraine itself, and the oak which represents the boy. In songs similes predominate: a girl is compared to a star, a red guelder-rose tree, a pine tree, and a poppy; a boy is compared to an oak, a maple, and a pigeon. Some songs make use of repetition,

antithesis Antithesis (: antitheses; Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introd ...

, hyperbole, and

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

. A technique often used in lyrical songs to express emotion is the dramatic dialogue. In some folk songs assonance,

alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Pe ...

, and

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...

are also used. Folk songs have provided inspiration for many

Ukrainian composers This is a list of Ukrainian composers of European classical music, classical music who were either born on the territory of modern-day Ukraine or were ethnically Ukrainian. List by century of birth 15th century 16th century 17th century ...

, such as Mykola Lysenko, Mykola Leontovych, and Kyrylo Stetsenko. The famous Russian composers Peter Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Serge Rachmaninoff also collected and used Ukrainian folk melodies in their works. Today many folk songs are still used, and are even used by contemporary artists.

Folk tales

''Kazka'' ( Ukrainian: ''казка'') is the Ukrainian word for fairy tale. There are common motifs in Ukrainian folk tales, with many involving animals. While many Ukrainian folk tales bear influence from cultural exchange with the greater pan-Slavic culture, they retain their unique Ukrainian character and identity. Many Ukrainian fairy tales developed during a time when people were farmers and hunters, with children growing up around "fierce animals roaming the forests" that could be dangerous. Additionally, children had to learn early the importance of caring for animals and crops because failure meant going hungry until the next year. Ukrainian folk tales have provided inspiration for numerous works of art. Many Ukrainian ''kazkas'' have been retold in Ukrainian animation, with folklore identified as a key trait of Ukrainian animation. The first Ukrainian animation in 1927 was the retelling of one such ''kazka'', "The Fairy Tale of the Straw Bull.". They remain an inspiration for many artists today. Children's author

Jan Brett Jan Brett (born December 1, 1949) is an American illustrator and author of children's picture books. Her titles include ''The Mitten'', ''The Hat'', and ''Gingerbread Baby'' as well as retelling traditional stories such as the Gingerbread Man an ...

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

retelling of the Ukrainian fairy tale, "''The Mitten''", has become a bestselling classic. The development of Ukrainian folk tales has also been subject to academic analysis.

References

External links

*
Ukrainian Traditional Folklore
'.

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

*
Folk articles
' at the

{{Slavic mythology