Folklore Terminology in the Ethnocultural Discourse of the Borderlands

Abstract

The issues of interethnic relations in folklore have been always relevant in the history of science and culture of Ukraine and other European countries. The study of these processes already has significant achievements and the corresponding conceptual and terminological apparatus, meanwhile constantly being replenished with data from the other fields of knowledge. Various facts of borrowings, interactions and transformations in folklore are recorded and described at different levels – from plots to individual elements. In particular, similar studies on the material of multi-ethnic – Slavic and non-Slavic communities – are conducted by the scientists of the NAS of Ukraine Maksym Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology. In addition to those mentioned in the article the arguments and conclusions of the other European scientists – from Hungary, Poland and others – are described. At the same time, it should be noted that these investigations often are short of theoretical generalizations, a conceptual basis and a reliable methodology. Accumulation of new knowledge and research on the terminology of frontier study requires deeper consideration and unification of folklore terminology from this territory, consideration of oral phenomena in close application with other, related sciences, taking into account the latest advances in cultural and social anthropology, the other areas of knowledge, modern frontiers phenomena, which include folklore interactions. The mentioned studies further need the systematization of the material in this area, common efforts of the scientists from various countries. The scholars distinguish their different levels (thematic, genre, lexical, etc.), designate them with appropriate terms that may correspond to linguistic or other terminology, and generally require an interdisciplinary approach to reach wider world horizons.