Ethno-cultural Traditions of the Descendants of Ukrainian Settlers in the South of the Far East of Russia: A Review of the Ethnolinguistic Expedition

Abstract

This article explores the results of the research on preservation of ethnocultural traditions among the descendants of Ukrainian settlers in Primorye, based on ethnolinguistic expedition conducted in June, 2023. The expedition was carried out jointly with a senior researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. G.P. Pilipenko. The route of the expedition included the rural settlements of the Pri-morsky Territory: Rettihovka, Chernigovsky district, and Khorol, Khorolsky district. The choice of the surveyed territories was due to the fact that here in the late XIX ―early XX century compact settlements of immigrants from the Russian provinces of the Russian empire were formed. The predominance of the Ukrainian population in the surveyed areas, located in the fertile steppe zones of the Khanka lowland, similar in landscape to the places where the settlers came from, contributed to the formation of loci of traditional culture, which showed a high degree of stability in the process of adaptation to new environmental, climatic and socio-economic conditions. The purpose of the field study was to collect information on the material and spiritual culture of Ukrainian settlers and their descendants in Primorye territory, to fix the degree of preservation and variability of the original traditions among representatives of different generations in the conditions of the adaptation processes. During the expedition, the ethnographic collections of Khorol local museum of history were observed. On the basis of the data obtained, elements of ethno-cultural traditions were identified in terms of family and calendar rituals, folklore, narratives about the first settlers in Primorye. Recollections of household culture, holidays, children’s games were recorded, and peculiarities of dialect were noted.