How a gathering becomes a holiday. Modern social practices of migrants from flooded zones in Ukraine

• Published in: Łódzkie studia etnograficzne Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 143 - 158
• Main Authors: Orszulak-Dudkowska, Katarzyna, Koval-Fuchylo, Iryna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lodz Polish Ethnological Society 01-01-2022; Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze; University of Łódź
• Subjects: Anthropology; Autobiographies; Celebrations; common meal; Community; Cultural anthropology; Emotions; Exhibitions; Floods; Folk costumes; Folklore; gatherings of migrants; Hydroelectric plants; Hydroelectric power; Memorials; Migrants; modern ritual forms; Monuments; Narratives; Photography; remembrance practices; resettlement from flooded areas; sacralisation of place and time; Social Sciences; Songs; Villages; Ukraine; remembrance practices; gatherings of migrants; sacralisation of place and time; common meal; resettlement from flooded areas; modern ritual forms
• ISSN: 0076-0382; 2450-5544
• DOI: 10.12775/LSE.2022.61.9

The article presents the modern practices of remembering sunken Ukrainian villages at annual or periodic gatherings of migrants from flooded areas in various regions of Ukraine. It describes the subsequent stages of organising such events, from spontaneous visits to the flooded place to a solemn meeting of the villagers on the banks of the reservoir. It also discusses the ritualised mechanisms and means by which an ordinary meeting of group of people is transformed into a festival through the sacralisation of the gathering’s time and place (by building memorials, such as chapels, crosses or monuments, the publication of memoirs, organization of exhibitions, etc.), through the appropriate selection of participants and the use of suitable identifiers of a celebration time (e.g. a shared meal, musical accompaniment, the performance of special songs, the use of national costumes, the taking of memorial photographs).