The image of the rural woman in ukrainian folk songs
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2025.160.5
Keywords:
folklore traditions, narrative structures, cultural identity, social roles, artistic representationAbstract
Background. Ukrainian folk song creativity is one of the most important sources for studying the cultural values, social relations, and worldview perceptions of traditional society. The image of the rural woman occupies a central place in this tradition, reflecting her role in the family,
community, labor, and ritual spheres. The study of this image allows for a deeper understanding of traditional concepts of femininity, moral and ethical norms, as well as the mechanisms of preserving and transmitting social experience through oral folklore. This topic gains particular relevance in the context of contemporary changes in gender roles and the rethinking of traditional cultural values. This article aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the image of the rural woman in Ukrainian folk songs, identify key themes and motifs related to the female image, reveal their symbolic significance, and explore how women's social functions within the family and community were conveyed through song tradition.
Methods. To achieve the stated goal, a range of interdisciplinary methods were used: song textual analysis to study thematic dominants and motifs; semiotic analysis to interpret the symbolic meaning of female images; the historical-cultural method to correlate the song material with actual social processes; as well as comparative analysis to identify common and specific features in the folklore of other Slavic peoples. In addition, a gender-based approach was applied, allowing for the exploration of how the female role in society is perceived through the folk song tradition.
Results. The study demonstrated that in Ukrainian folk songs, the rural woman appears as a multifaceted image that combines the traits of a caring mother, a faithful wife, a hardworking homemaker, and an active participant in community life. The songs emphasize the importance of women's labor, their moral virtues, and resilience in the face of life's difficulties. The emotional world of women is also reflected-their joys, anxieties, and sorrows-expressed through lyrical motifs. It was found that Ukrainian folk creativity not only reflects everyday realities but also constructs an idealized female image that embodies traditional moral values.
Conclusions. The analysis of Ukrainian folk songs confirms that the image of the rural woman plays a significant role in the folklore tradition, embodying key moral and ethical ideals and social guidelines. Through folk songs, ideas about women's duties, life purpose, and mechanisms of social interaction in traditional Ukrainian society were transmitted. The study of this image not only deepens the understanding
of folk worldview but also contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage, offering an opportunity to reconsider traditional gender roles in
modern society.
References
Azarkh, I. (2002). The Image of a Working Woman in Ukrainian Historical Songs and Dumas of the 16th – First Half of the 17th Centuries. Ukrainian Historical Collection, 4, 168–177 [in Ukrainian]. https://lib.in.ua/102687-stattiaobraz-zhinky-trudivnyczi-v-ukrainskyh-istorychnyh-pisniah-i-dumah-hvi-pershoipolovyny-hvii-st
Bashkirova, O. (2020). Artistic Representation of Femininity in Modern Ukrainian Novels. Slovo i Chas, 6(714), 72–86. https://doi.org/10.33608/ 0236-1477.2020.06.72-86 [in Ukrainian].
Zaspa, I. Yu. (2022). Transformation of female images-symbols in modern Ukrainian visual culture: the time of independence. Questions of cultural studies. https://doi.org/10.31866/2410-1311.40.2022.269371 [in Ukrainian].
Ivanytska, T. (2020). Female portrait in the work of Andriy Kotska 1930 - 1980. Ethnographic notebooks, 5(155), 1158–1167. https://doi.org/10.15407/ nz2020.05.1158 [in Ukrainian].
Kachak, T. B. (2022). Emotions as a means of expressing the gender identity of heroes in modern Ukrainian prose for teenagers. Scientific notes of V. I. Vernadskyi TNU. Series: Philology. Journalism, 33(72). https://doi.org/ 10.32782/2710-4656/2022.5.2/13 [in Ukrainian].
Konoplya, L. A., & Skorbach, T. V. (2019). The role of women in Ukrainian literature and life. Gender. In Ecology. Health (рр. 205–206). Kharkiv National Medical University [in Ukrainian]. https://repo.knmu.edu.ua/handle/ 123456789/23052
Kukulenko-Luk'yanets, I. (2019). The psychological image of women in Ukrainian literature, Problems of modern psychology, 8 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.32626/2227-6246.2010-8.%p
Kulakevych, L. M., & Deeva-Nayuk, O. A. (2019). Peculiarities of the interpretation of the image of Roksolana in the story of O. Nazaruk "Roksolana, the woman of the Caliph and Padishah Suleiman the Great, the conqueror and the legislator" and the novel by P. Zagrebelny "Roksolana". Secrets of the artistic text (to the problem of the poetics of the text), 24, 70 - 79 [in Ukrainian]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341121466
Menshiy, A. (2016). Images of "new" women in the short stories of M. Kotsyubynsky and M. Mohylyansky. Literary process: methodology, names, trends, 6 [in Ukrainian]. https://litp.kubg.edu.ua/index.php/journal/ article/view/161
Lyakh, T. (2022). The image of a woman in the Ukrainian short story of the late 19th – early 20th centuries: poetics, artistic anthropology. Scientific notes of the KhNPU named after G.S. Skovoroda. Literary studies, 1(99), 101–119 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.34142/2312-1076.2022.1.99.07
Sokil, G. (2023). The image of a woman in Ukrainian ritual songs: functional orientation, traditional meanings. Slavia Orientalis, LXXII(1), 15–28 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.24425/slo.2023.145194
Telegina, N., & Pasichnyk, O. (2020). Specifics of psychological portraiture of female images in Sidney Sheldon's novel "the other side of midnight": contrast of the image. Current Issues in the Humanities, 31(2), 265–270 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.24919/2308-4863.2/31.213990
Tkachenko, V. (2023). Female Characters in the Prose of Hanna Barvinok: a System of Spiritual Values. Ukrainian Literature: Historical Experience and Perspectives, 2, 70–80 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.31652/3041-1084
-2-70-80
Pomyrcha, S., & Klymenko, O. (2020). Research on Ukrainian Folk Songs in the Context of Genderology. Collection of Scientific Works of the Uman State Pedagogical University, 2, 272–279 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/
31499/2307-4906.2.2016.196123
Shishkova, K. (2022). On the issue of studying the image of women in Ukrainian literature. In O. O. Malenko (Ed. chief), Ukrainian world in scientific paradigms (рр. 169–170). Kharkiv. National Pedagogical University named after G. S. Skovoroda [in Ukrainian]. https://dspace.hnpu.edu.ua/handle/ 123456789/9465
Shulga, O. O. (2022). Types of female images in the novel "Fortress on Borysphen" by V. Chemerys. Transcarpathian Philological Studies, 23(2), 242–249 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.32782/tps2663-4880/2022.23.2.47
Shulha, O. O. (2020). Female images in the dramatic poem "Boyaryna" by Lesya Ukrainka. Bulletin of the Zaporizhzhia National University. Philological Sciences, 1(II), 198–203 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.26661/2414-95942020-1-2-26
Yakovleva, I. V. (2021). Transformation of the image of a strong-manly woman in the works of Boris Grinchenko and Yevhen Malanyuk. Grail of Science, 11, 356–359 [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.36074/grail-ofscience.24.12.2021.059
Chuy, A. (2015). Girlish images of folk love songs. Philological sciences. Literary studies, 9, 189–193 [in Ukrainian]. https://evnuir.vnu.edu.ua/ bitstream/123456789/9491/1/37.PDF
