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« 2026. № 5 (191)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 5 (191), 1357—1362

UDK 392.81:664.66](477+100)”2022/2026″

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

  • Received: 23.10.2026
  • Accepted: 27.10.2026
  • Published: ??.??.2026

BREAD DAY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF UKRAINIAN AND GLOBAL CONTEXTS THROUGH THE PRISM OF ETHNOLOGY

HERUS Lyudmyla

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5931-3816
  • Doctor of Sciences in History,
  • Сandidate of Аrts(Ph. D), Head of Department,
  • The Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy
  • of Sciences of Ukraine, Departmentof Folk Art,
  • 15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: ludmilagerus@gmail.com

Abstract. Introduction. Bread — which has historically occupied a central, semiotically charged position within the worldviews of both Ukrainian and global ethnic groups — now finds itself at the intersection of divergent vectors of reception. World Bread Day serves as a representative communication platform for documenting these shifts.

The purpose of this article is a comparative ethnological analysis of the sociocultural and ritual-symbolic dimensions of the observance of World Bread Day within Western and Ukrainian contexts, identifying the ethnocultural specificities of the transformation of this concept. The object of the study is World Bread Day as a global sociocultural and historical-memorial phenomenon. The subject of the study comprises the ethnocultural, semiotic, and axiological markers of the transformation of the concept of bread within Ukrainian and global ethnocultural spaces. The source base consists of ethnographic observations, materials from contemporary media discourse, the conceptual foundations of the “New Ukrainian School,” and scholarly-methodological materials from the Ivan Honchar Museum (National Center of Folk Culture). The methodological basis of the study relies on the comparative-historical method — which facilitated a comparison between Western and domestic ethnocultural models regarding the perception of baking traditions — as well as semiotic and axiological analysis, which enabled the elucidation of the symbolism of bread as a signifier of an ethnic community.

Conclusions. The Western European and American approaches to observing World Bread Day demonstrate a pragmatic, rationalized perspective in which the product undergoes a process of desacralization. It functions as a tool for cultural diplomacy, an object of restaurant marketing, and a macroeconomic factor within the programs of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Keywords: bread, World Bread Day, ethnology, museum, education, sacralization, commemoration, martial law, Ukraine, the West.

REFERENCES

  • International Union of Bakers and Confectioners (UIBC). Retrieved from: https://padaqui.es/en/setmana-del-pa-2026/ https://www.worldbakersconfectioners.org/ [in English].
  • UN Report: Global Hunger Levels Decline for the Third Consecutive Year, as Regional Inequality Persists. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FАО). Retrieved from: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/un-report–global-hunger-levels-ease-for-third-consecutive-year-as-regional-disparities-persist/en [in English].
  • Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_Intangible_Cultural_Heritage_elements#Representative_List_of_the_Intangible_Cultural_Heritage_of_Humanity [in English].
  • Нerus, L. (2025). History of Ukrainian Bread (Р. 280). Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Herus, L. (2009). Ceremonial bread «karachun» (interrelationship of symbolism and plastic interpretation of form). Lemkowie, Bojkowie, Rusini — history, wspolczesnosc,material and spiritual culture (Issue 2, pp. 145—150). Zielona Gora; Slupsk: Drukar. [in Ukrainian].
  • Herus, L. (2018). Bread and Cloth in Ukrainian Rituality: Functions and Semantics. The Ethnology Notebooks, 5 (143), 1096—1105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2018.05.1096 [in Ukrainian].
  • Movchaniuk, A., Boiko, A. (2026). Agrarian sector of Ukraine in war conditions: Economic challenges and state stabilization instruments. Economy and Society, (84). Retrieved from: https://economyandsociety.in.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/7638 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32782/2524-0072/2026-84-46 [in Ukrainian].
  • Moroz, S., Kalashnyk, O., Karolop, O., Barabolia, O., Kytaihora, V. (2025). The Bakery Industry of Ukraine: Transformations and Challenges Amidst the War. Herald of Khmelnytskyi National University. Technical Sciences, 349(2), 576—584. Retrieved from: https://dspace.pdau.edu.ua/handle/123456789/20388 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31891/2307-5732-2025-349-84 [in Ukrainian].
  • Tsopa, V. New Dangers and Associated Risks in Ukraine’s Agricultural Sector Under Martial Law. Occupational Safety, 2026, 7. Retrieved from: https://ohoronapraci.kiev.ua/article/news/novi-nebezpeki-ta-ih-riziki-v-agrosektori-ukraini-v-umovah-voennogo-stanu [in Uk­ra­inian].
  • “You Reap What You Sow”: A Modular Lesson for Primary School for World Bread Day. Retrieved from: https://nus.org.ua/2026/10/12/shho-posiyesh-te-j-pozhnesh-urok-konstruktor-dlya-pochatkovoyi-shkoly-do-vsesvitnogo-dnya-hliba/ [in Ukrainian].
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