Celebrating Christmas and New Year Holidays as Identification Practices of the Frontline Kharkiv Population

Author

Sushko Valentyna

a Ph.D. in History, an associate professor, a senior research fellow at the Ukrainian Ethnological Center Department of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukrainе (Kharkiv, Ukraine).

ОRCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0480-1473

Celebrating Christmas and New Year Holidays
as Identification Practices of the Frontline Kharkiv Population

Abstract

Already at the end of the 19th century, appeal to manifestations of folk culture has become a way to declare the national identity for Ukrainians. That is why the Soviet state has tried to appropriate and devalue these manifestations, which led to the phenomenon of sharovarshchyna (a superficial, exaggerated, and often inaccurate display of Ukrainian traditions). However, folk culture continues to be a way to demonstrate Ukrainianness. The folk calendar and festive rites are considered as an important marker of national identity also in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

With the emergence of the Ukrainian state in 1991, it should have provided all possible support for the national and cultural movement. However, observing cultural processes on the ground does not allow us to be too optimistic. This can be seen exemplifying by one of the largest regional centers of the country – Kharkiv. As an example, let’s take such a seemingly maximally non-politicized phenomenon as the celebration of Christmas and New Year holidays.

Festive and ceremonial Ukrainian song culture has interested Kharkiv musicologists since the 1970s. Since then, more than one generation of ethnomusicologists and performers of authentic singing and music has been educated in the institutions and public associations. Thanks to enthusiasts and conscious citizens, over the past 40 years we can speak on the artistic and festival movement aimed at popularizing Ukrainian traditional culture as well as on several waves and trends in this movement, like the study and popularization of kobzar culture (Kharkiv Kobzar Workshop and Hnat Khotkevych Festival); festivals of traditional authentic performances (“Pokut”, “Sviatovyd”, “All Hope is in Kolodii”, “Wedding in Malynivka”, regional children’s festival of traditional folk culture “Krokoveie Kolo” (“Steps Circle”) and others associated with the Union of Folklorists and Ethnologists of Kharkiv), festival of Christmas and New Year traditions “Vertep-Fest”. However, all these events are initiated by citizens and have taken place with minimal support from local authorities – thanks to horizontal, not vertical, connections. Local city and regional authorities have treated and still treat such events extremely coolly, trying to marginalize them as much as possible.

Keywords

Ukrainian national identity, cultural and artistic events, city of Kharkiv.

References

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