« 2024. # 3 (177)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2024. № 3 (177), 617—630

UDK 746.5.011.26.045.02.03(477.83/.86=161.2)”19″:930.2

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2024.03.617

THE BEADED COTILLION AS AN ACTUAL ARTIFACT OF UKRAINIAN CULTURE: GENESIS AND PECULIARITIES OF USE

FEDORCHUK Olena

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4724-3566
  • Doctor of History (Dr. Sci.), Leading Researcher,
  • The Ethnology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
  • Historical Ethnology Department,
  • 15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: olena-fedorchuk@ukr.net

Abstract. The research is devoted to the beaded adornment, best known among Ukrainians as «cotillion». The adornment became widespread in Eastern Galicia and Bukovyna in the early XX century on the wave of national revival and the unfolding of the liberation struggle for Ukraine’s state independence. The adornment often contained Ukrainian folk symbols, making it a popular emblem of national identity.

The relevance of the article is due to the growing public interest in the studied adornment. Since the beginning of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, the cotillion has attracted the attention of many Ukrainian artists who have begun to actively replicate it.

The information and illustrations collected in this article will contribute to the understanding of a little-known ethnic phenomenon of cotillion and the development of related contemporary artistic practices.

The object of the study is the ethnic artistic tradition of beaded decoration of Ukrainian folk costume, and the subject of the study is the genesis and peculiarities of the cotillion.

The scientific novelty of the work is a comprehensive analysis of the vast collection of information about the cotillion as an actual artifact of Ukrainian culture.

The research methodology is based on a systematic historical approach and such methods as historiographical research, interviews, photographic documentation of artifacts, audio recording of narratives, scientific analysis, analytical interpretation of the results, and historical reconstruction.

The source base of the study consists of the author’s field materials collected over twenty years, namely visual and verbal information about the beaded cotillion.

Cotillions from state museums, common photos from the first half of the XX century, and digital replicas of cotillions from academic colleagues and private collectors were all examined throughout the writing of this study.

Keywords: Ukraine, folk art, beaded jewelry, cotillion, national symbols.

Received 29.04.2024

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