Wedding and Marriage-Ritual Themes on the Pages of “Folk Art and Ethnology” Journal

The article is devoted to the analysis of the main ethnographic and scientific trends in the study of Ukrainian wedding ceremonies in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, described on the pages of “Folk Art and Ethnology” journal. A brief overview of the major milestones and tendencies in the development of the journal according to the activities of the scientific centers it has functioned at, been restored and continues to be published consistently, is conducted. The change of scientific views from descriptive to modern analytical, interdisciplinary study of the wedding ritual in the socio-cultural context is considered after the analyzed published works. The key stages of ethnological thought development are described through the study of wedding ceremonies. They include the descriptiveness in the first third of the twentieth century, the ideologized format of the 1960s and 1980s aimed at demonstrating the unity of “brotherly peoples,” to a deeper analytical understanding of ethno-cultural transformations in the 1990s and 2000s. The emphasis is placed on the transition from documenting ritual actions to interpreting the reasons for the modifications of traditional culture in the post-Soviet society. The main thematic areas of ethnologists’ published works are identified: traditional Ukrainian weddings, regional and local peculiarities, transformations of rituals, interethnic interactions, peculiarities of the other nations’ weddings, source studies, globalization influences. The content of a number of works where the stable elements of the wedding complex are considered, as well as the transformations of Ukrainian weddings, is analyzed. Attention is also paid to the articles representing the modern understanding of wedding as a dynamic cultural phenomenon. Thus, the main trends and directions of scientific search in the field of wedding ceremonies are described in the article. It is emphasized on the importance of the ”Folk Art and Ethnology” journal as a platform for the development of the ethnological thought in Ukraine, which contributes to a deeper understanding of cultural processes and strengthening of national identity.