NEPOTISM AS A PHENOMENON OF UKRAINIAN INGUOMENTALITY (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF RITUAL SONGS)

Abstract

The presented research is dedicated to the study of the tradition of nepotism in various rituals of both ritual cycles: family and calendar. Taking into account the fact that there is no single point of view among historians, cultural scientists and ethnologists on the understanding of the origins of nepotism, we included in the analysis the texts of ritual songs, in particular, christening songs, which contain information about godfathers, attitudes towards them, characterized their moral qualities and relationships between them. The purpose of the study was to analyse the texts of folk songs, which reveal the ancient folk tradition of nepotism among Ukrainians. The object of our attention was the phenomenon of nepotism, that is, the presence of them in separate rituals of the family and calendar cycle. The subject was the characteristics of godparents and the relationship between them, the attitude towards the godparents of godchildren, etc. In the process of working with the texts of ritual songs, we used the methods of induction and synthesis, descriptive and comparative methods, as well as the method of contextual and interpretive analysis of folklore texts. The etymology of the words kum and kuma confirms the information that most of the rites of the family cycle were purely female. Ethnographic materials testify to the importance and necessity of the presence of them in the christening ritual. After the christening ritual in the church, the organizers of the festive dinner could be both the parents of the newborn child and the godfather and godmother. At dinner, the main ones were the midwife and godparents, they were the ones who sang majestic songs. Taking into account the fact that the godfather and godmother were chosen for the child with the aim and the possibility of fully duplicating the duties of the biological parents in case of misfortune with the latter, in ancient times sexual relations between godfathers were not condemned, as between a real husband and wife. As a result of the research, we came to the following conclusions: the tradition of nepotism in family rites was primary; in calendar – secondary. Grooming in the broadest sense involved the establishment of family or blood relations; in a narrow way – duplication of married life in all its manifestations as a result of imitative magic, in which the ancestors believed. Godfathers were treated with great respect, even more than biological parents. Folk songs about godparents that have come down to our times record a later period when they were honoured and glorified, and intimate relationships between godparents were condemned.