Urban wedding rituals of Ukrainians: transformations and trends of modern development (second half of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century)
Authors:   M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Etnology of the NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Bekh Kateryna 
Published: July 2023

This is a monographic study is the first program of the complex analysis of national rituals in the Ukrainian city society in the second half of the XX – for the sake of the XXI century. The paper traces the formation of the city general education community and highlights the trends of transformation of the components of traditional culture of Ukrainians in the urban environment. Pay attention in advance to the previous development, construction and modification of family decoration and its marriage and wedding component, as one of the most important ethno-identification signs of leadership and elements of preserving ethnicity. The scientific works on ceremonial urban culture are analyzed, which we conditionally divide into two thematic groups. The first included works by Ukrainian ethnologists devoted to the theory of urban planning, the study of the national specifics of the urban population; the second group consisted of works dedicated to the wedding ceremonies of the Ukrainian urban population. The methodological basis of the research is outlined and the necessity of involving a wide range of general scientific and special methods is substantiated. The basis of the methodological strategy of the monograph research is determined by the interdisciplinary approach, comparative-historical method, component analysis, structural-functional, semiotic, socio-cultural and civilizational approach. Each of these methods was used to solve specific research problems in the relevant sections of the monograph . The sources of the researched subject, which make up the group of archival materials and own recordings, carried out by the method of interviews and included observation during marriage ceremonies and visits to the International Specialized Exhibition “Wedding-Ball” during 2015-2019, are described. The main factors of transformational ritual practices and reduction of traditional components of rituals in different periods of crisis socio-political phenomena and globalization processes are highlighted. The main stages of development and transformation of wedding culture in the urban environment of the twentieth century are considered. In particular, it is noted that during the 1920s and 1980s, the Soviet system played a major role in the transformation of the traditional component of wedding ceremonies and the spiritual foundations of the Ukrainian people in general. The main directions of centralized implementation of the new Soviet marriage ceremony, which began to be implemented in the 1960s, are analyzed: the development of a new ceremony became one of the priority vectors of the ruling elite, including organizing plenums, preparing resolutions, creating special committees and institutes to deal with issues. In the late 1960s, a festive marriage registration ceremony in its Soviet dimension was formed and introduced; wedding celebrations took place according to a scenario developed and officially approved at the state level, which provided for the replacement of traditional rituals with ideologically colored Soviet customs and rites. The process of bringing wedding ceremonies from a narrow family circle to a wide socio-political level is considered. The two most common forms of marriage and celebration in the city are analyzed: a party held as a family holiday; “Komsomol wedding”, which was held among colleagues. Attention is paid to the modifications of the wedding ceremonies of the urban environment, which took place during the weakening of political control over the cultural sphere and family life of the late twentieth century. The appearance of the first ritual services, their functions and role in the process of a new “ritual” are traced. In particular, during the 1960s and 1970s, organizations and institutions responsible for the introduction and promotion of holiday culture among the population were launched at various levels of the political vertical. The activity of ritual services of the Soviet period and organizational agencies of the beginning of the XXI century is characterized. The reorientation of activity and functions of service centers on festive and organizational service of the urban population in the years of independence development, which are characterized by public aspirations for Western European integration, is considered. In particular, from the mid-1990s, event agencies, specialized firms for organizing and holding weddings, began to appear in cities under the influence of Western culture. Today, the wedding industry offers a wide range of services for the organization and conduct of wedding ceremonies: at the request of the urban environment, the wedding industry presents various variations of “adapted”, Western European wedding ceremony and ethnic weddings (re-actualization of Ukrainian culture). Varieties of mass media that cover and present wedding themes in the urban environment are analyzed. Note that the media in an urban society are characterized by signs of mass and accessibility; are perceived as a reliable source of notification and have a real impact on the formation of public opinion and cultural values of the general public; and the information content presented in the media significantly affects the way of life and new vectors of development of wedding ceremonies of the urban population. The influence of a powerful Internet resource – a universal and innovative means of transmitting information to modern society – Internet resources is revealed. Note that during the globalization process, the role of electronic information content is of great importance in the formation of cultural landmarks and values of the inhabitants of the modern city and the Ukrainian population in general. It was found that electronic portals of marriage and wedding issues are aimed at different groups of users and formats of information. The diversity of wedding topics presented on electronic resources attracts the attention of a significant number of interested users; the content of popular portals meets their basic search practical and educational queries. The appearance and existence of multimedia means at a city wedding are analyzed; technical resources of retransmission and methods of recording and storing on digital media the course of wedding and holiday ceremonies. The modern technical possibilities used for online broadcasting of a wedding in Internet resources are considered. In particular, it is becoming a trend among young people to hold a video stream of an exit ceremony, official registration or entertainment-festive part of a wedding for users of social networks. The globalization and cultural-integration influences which determine the development of the wedding ceremony in the urban environment of the beginning of the XXI century are revealed. In particular, we emphasize the diversity, variability of wedding scenarios and at the same time – the unification of the wedding ceremony (given the dynamic globalization processes and intercultural interactions of the urban community). It is revealed that in the conditions of dynamic cultural-integration processes the modern Ukrainian wedding in an urban environment is enriched on the one hand by borrowing marriage components and rituals from different ethnocultures, and on the other hand there are reductions and modifications of a number of components of its traditional format. It is noted that the modern scenario of a European-style wedding mostly involves a theatrical ceremony, which is held at a specially arranged festive and banquet location; official marriage registration usually takes place on the wedding day. At the same time, options for official marriage (marriage registration) in advance are common. The review of the Western European rituals adapted to the Ukrainian urban custom is carried out, in particular the borrowed sign-symbolic actions of pre-wedding and post-wedding cycles are described. The peculiarities of the modified format of the ethno-wedding format among the urban population, in which the main components of the traditional action (structure, a number of rituals, song accompaniment of rituals, paraphernalia and attire) are generated, are revealed. New formats of marriage certification and conclusion for the Ukrainian urban environment have been identified, in particular, the popular state registration service “Marriage for a Day” has been described. The specifics of organizing and holding a wedding in a global pandemic (Covid – 19) and quarantine measures. The facts of significant narrowing of thematic segments of the rite and reduction of a number of rituals of pre-wedding and post-wedding cycles are stated. A number of attributive and symbolic components used during weddings in the city during the study period are analyzed. Attention is paid to the meaning and origin of ritual objects. In particular, the state of preservation and functioning of traditional subject-ritual elements during crisis socio-political processes is revealed. The existence of wedding attributes in the Soviet period, sacralized by Soviet ideology and recommended for use in wedding celebrations, is considered. Both modified traditional and borrowed from Western marriage culture and adapted to modern ceremonies ritual objects are presented; revealed their expressive and symbolic meaning when laying in an urban environment.