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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2025. № 5 (185), 1265—1287

UDK398.801.8/.82-94::001.89(477)”372.363/.364:15/20″

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

RECORDING FOLKLORE IN EXTREME CONDITIONS / DURING THE WORK PROCESSES WITH INCREASED RISK (on the lecture at the meeting of the Folklore Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society within the events for the Day of Science in Ukraine (2025, May 27))

IVANNIKOVA Liudmyla

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0617-5082
  • Candidate of Sciences in Philology (PhD), Senior Researcher,
  • M. Rylsky Institute for Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology
  • of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
  • the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Folklore Studies,
  • 4, Hrushevskoho St., 01001, Kyiv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: ivannikovafolk@ukr.net 

LIASHENKO Liana

  • School leaver, winner of the Junior Academy of Sciences 
  • of Ukraine in the section «Folklore Studies» (on the 3rd final)
  • stage — in  2024—2025, on the 2nd (Kyiv) stage — in 2023—2024 and 2024—2025)
  • Contacts: e-mail: liashenkoliana2008@gmail.com

BROVARETS Tetiana

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1563-2572
  • Candidate of Sciences in Philology (PhD),Researcher,
  • M. Rylsky Institute for Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology
  • of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
  • the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Folklore Studies,
  • 4, Hrushevskoho St., 01001, Kyiv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: tetiana.volkovicher@gmail.com

Abstract. The current article has been prepared based on the materials of a three-part lecture heard and discussed at the May meeting of the Folklore Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, which took place as part of the events for the Day of Science in Ukraine — 2025. The co-speakers which are Liudmyla Ivannikova (The first part «Conservation of folklore in the Budbat context in the preserved documents of the Cossack era»), Liana Liashenko (The second part «Social and cultural models of the folk beliefs formation and transformation in the communities of military personnel and rescuers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine»), Tetiana Brovarets (The third part «Eliminating the consequences of hostilities in the ranks of Dobrobat. Contexts that make the working day and their impact on folklore creating») have discussed the overdue issue of preserving folklore in extreme conditions / during the work processes with increased risks to the life and health of workers. 

The purpose of such a somewhat innovative association was to draw the attention of the Society, as well as the general public, to the urgent need to preserve as much as possible those folklore units, the detection of which at the first stages is particularly laborious because of the conditions where and when they function: in closed communities, often directly during the performing work tasks associated with increased danger. Additional complications for further work with such material are the so-called fragmentation (or intermittency) of fixations, as a result of which we obtain the so-called incomplete (or partial) texts. However, the above challenges should not hinder the study of the object, as they only enhance its research attractiveness. The extreme conditions of (re)creation of folklore largely determine its uniqueness. All these aspects — both of the texts themselves and of the contexts that are closely interconnected — are worth many in-depth studies. This is quite realistic to achieve provided that the ranks of volunteer fixers are replenished with new generations. 

The preservation of folklore in working, particularly extreme, contexts should be encouraged by both professional folklorists/ethnologists and all concerned citizens who show a desire and readiness to take a direct part in eliminating the consequences of Russian armed aggression.

Keywords: folklore fixation in extreme conditions; (working) contexts; folklore creating; recorder positions «from inside» and «from outside»; fortifiers of the Cossack era; military personnel; rescuers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine; volunteers of Dobrobat; participant observation; «incomplete» texts; «fragmentary» fixations.

Received 30.08.2025

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