Authors: ВЕН К.М.

Summary: The monograph is the first program of the complex analysis of national rituals in the Ukrainian city society in the second half of the 20th — for the sake of the 21st century. The paper traces the formation of the city general education community and highlights the trends of transformation of the components of traditional culture of Ukrainians in the urban environment. Payed attention in advance to the previous development, construction and modification of family decoration and its marriage and wedding component, as one of the most important ethno-identification signs of leadership and elements of preserving ethnicity. The scientific works on ceremonial urban culture are analyzed, which we conditionally divide into two thematic groups. The first one included works by Ukrainian ethnologists devoted to the theory of urban planning, the study of the national specifics of the urban population; the second group consisted of works dedicated to the wedding ceremonies of the Ukrainian urban population. The methodological basis of the research is outlined and the necessity of involving a wide range of general scientific and special methods is substantiated. The basis of the methodological strategy of the dissertation research is determined by the interdisciplinary approach, comparative-historical method, component analysis, structural-functional, semiotic, socio-cultural and civilizational approach. Each of these methods was used to solve specific research problems in the relevant sections of the dissertation. The sources of the researched subject, which made up the group of archival materials and own recordings, carried out by the method of interviews and included observation during marriage ceremonies and visits to the International Specialized Exhibition «Wedding-Ball» during 2015—2019, are described. The main factors of transformational ritual practices and reduction of traditional components of rituals in different periods of crisis socio¬political phenomena and globalization processes are highlighted. The main stages of development and transformation of wedding culture in the urban environment of the twentieth century are considered. In particular, it is noted that during the 1920s and 1980s, the Soviet system played a major role in the transformation of the traditional component of wedding ceremonies and the spiritual foundations of the Ukrainian people In general. The main directions of centralized implementation of the new Soviet marriage ceremony, which began to be implemented in the 1960s, are analyzed: the development of a new ceremony became one of the priority vectors of the ruling elite, including organizing plenums, pre¬paring resolutions, creating special committees and institutes to deal with issues. In the late 1960s, a festive marriage registration ceremony in its Soviet dimension was formed and introduced; wedding celebrations took place according to a scenario developed and officially approved at the state level, which provided for the replacement of traditional rituals with ideologically colored Soviet customs and rites. The process of bringing wedding ceremonies from a narrow family circle to a wide socio-political level is considered. The two most common forms of marriage and celebration in the city are analyzed: a party held as a family holiday; «Komsomol wedding», which was held among colleagues. Attention is paid to the modifications of the wedding ceremonies of the urban environment, which took place during the weakening of political control over the cultural sphere and family life of the late twentieth century. The appearance of the first ritual services, their functions and role in the process of a new «ritual» are traced. In particular, during the 1960s and 1970s, organizations and institutions responsible for the introduction and promotion of holiday culture among the population were launched at various levels of the political vertical. The activity of ritual services of the Soviet period and organizational agencies of the beginning of the 21st century is characterized. The reorientation of activity and functions of service centers on festive and organizational service of the urban population in the years of independence development, which are characterized by public aspirations for Western European integration, is considered. In particular, from the mid-1990s, event agencies, specialized firms for organizing and holding weddings, began to appear in cities under the influence of Western culture. Today, the wedding industry offers a wide range of services for the organization and conduct of wedding ceremonies: at the request of the urban environment, the wedding industry presents various variations of «adapted», Western European wedding ceremony and ethnic weddings (re-actualization of Ukrainian culture).

ISBN 978-966-00-1896-0

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/978-966-00-1896-0

Book project: Scientific book. Young scientists

Responsible institutions: Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folklore and Ethnology of NAS of Ukraine

Published: Kyiv

Size in pages: 160

Print run: 50