For the Cultivation of National Identity: Folkloric-Ethnographic Texts in the Pages of the Chernivtsi Children’s Magazine «Ukrainska Lastivka» (1933-1940)

The aim. This study examines the corpus of olklore and ethnographic texts published in the pages of the Chernivtsi children’s monthly magazine «Ukrainska Lastivka» («Ukrainian Swallow») during 1933‑1940, when Bukovyna was under Romanian occupation, and the publication served as an important platform for acquainting children with Ukrainian cultural heritage. The editorial strategy of the magazine was based on a profound understanding that traditional national culture could serve as a foundation for forming Ukrainian national identity among the young generation of Bukovynians. The novelty of the research. The content of the publication encompassed all major genres of oral verbal creativity: calendar‑ ritual poetry, heroic epic songs, lyrical works, fairy tales, paremiography, and children’s games. The systematic presentation of calendar‑ ritual poetry was particularly significant. The very first issue of the magazine opened with the Christmas carol «Nova radist stala…» («New Joy Has Come…»), filled with hope and spiritual uplift. The study also examines the genres of paremiography presented in the magazine with their orientation toward the intellectual and moral- ethical development of children. In addition to folklore texts, the magazine included ethnographic materials describing traditional customs, crafts, and everyday practices. In this way, the value of Ukrainian literature and folk culture in general for pedagogical purposes was consistently emphasized. The methodological innovations – integration of entertainment and education in the processes of reading, child‑ rearing, and comprehensive development of their national identity, participation of schoolchildren and teachers in collecting, publishing, and preserving folklore, adaptation of traditional materials to new realities – remain relevant even in the era of globalization. Conclusions. After the study, we can conclude the literary and moral importance of the texts of the Chernivtsi Children’s Magazine «Ukrainska Lastivka» (1933‑1940). The editors showed courage by adding new stanzas with direct references to the «shackled land» and prayers for freedom. The fairy tales published in the magazine played a major role: they served as means of moral instruction, entertainment, and cultural transmission. Magic tales such as «Kyrylo Kozhumiaka» connected young Bukovynians with Ukrainian historical consciousness, while animal fables provided important moral lessons. The Ukrainian song tradition also fulfilled educational and instructional functions through historical examples such as «Song about the Destruction of the Sich» and «Maksym Kozak Zalizniak» ensuring an emotional connection with the national historical experience, while lyrical songs provided aesthetic education as well