« 2019. № 5 (149)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2019, № 5 (149), 1165—1177

UDK 738:39:7.046.1 (4)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2019.05.1165

POTTERY THEMES IN THE FOLKLORE RECORDINGS BY MYTROFAN DYKARIV

RAKHNO Kostyantyn

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0973-3919

Doctor of Sciences in History,

Leading Researcher of the National Museum

of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishne,

102 Partyzanska Street, 38164, Opishne,

Zinkiv District, Poltava Region, Ukraine

e-mail: krakhno@ukr.net

Abstract. Folklore data are very important for the studies of the role and place of pottery craft in the traditional culture and life of the Ukrainian people. It is the folk oral traditions that allow the most complete coverage of the folk perception of the pottery craft and its carriers — potters as well as understanding the attitude of the Ukrainians to such production stages as the extraction of pottery raw materials, the production of ceramics and their sale. Legends, fairy tales and narratives show us the folk-mythological image of the potter, and songs, sayings, proverbs, sentences, descriptions of family and calendar ceremonies, which are inseparable from folklore, help us to understand better the ritual and magic functions of his products. Not all ethnographic regions of Ukraine are equally researched in this regard. Therefore, the scientific heritage of Mytrofan Dykariv (1854—1899), the famous folklorist, ethnographer, and mythologist, which, in spite of its considerable amount, remains poorly studied, is especially relevant. The goal of the author is to study the pottery folklore presented in it. The object of the contributed study is the Mytrofan Dykariv’s scientific groundwork, which consists of his publications of folk prose, songs, and small forms of folklore, his descriptions of wedding and calendar rituals and customs, folk life, his scientific research in the field of mythology, and its subject are ideas, available in them, which reveal the folk perception of the activity of potters and pottery carriers, the role and function of earthenware in the traditional life of the Ukrainians of the Voronezh and Kuban regions in the late 19th century. Methodological basis of the research is the historical and geographical method in conjunction with the principles and methods of historiographical research.

The basis of the work is mythological legends, recorded by Mytrofan Dykariv, which cause the mythological significance of pottery raw material — clay and the functions of items from it, narratives, proverbs and sayings, which show the attitude of the people to the professions of the potter and pottery carrier. The results of the research elucidate the images of the potter and pottery carrier in the folk mythological beliefs, the people’s attitude to them and their occupations, their relationship to other mythological characters, and also tell about the mythological connotations of ceramic ware. This is, in particular, the tales on a potter’s meeting with a dangerous wizard, didactic stories about a pottery carrier, punished for deceiving people, a narrative about the magic pitcher received by childless spouses from a witch. They have parallels in other regions of Ukraine.

Keywords: pottery, folklore, legends, narratives, wedding ceremonies, calendar ceremonies, sayings, proverbs, songs, Mytrofan Dykariv.

Received 26.07.2019

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