Research on Traditional Folk Knowledge on the Pages of “Folk Art and Ethnology” Journal

The article is an attempt of a comprehensive analysis of the development of research on traditional folk knowledge (medicine, meteorology, astronomy, metrology, mathematics) on the pages of “Folk Art and Ethnology” journal during the century of its existence. The main thematic areas of ethnologists’ published works are identified: regional aspects and generalized studies of traditional folk knowledge of Ukrainians, features of folk knowledge of other peoples, interethnic mutual influences, etc. The 1920s are marked by research on individual aspects of folk medicine, astronomy, mathematics. During the 1930s – the first half of the 1960s traditional folk knowledge has not been at all in the field of view of ethnologists. Since the second half of the 1960s separate studies on traditional folk knowledge have been started to appear. In the Soviet times scientific discourse is largely limited by ideological frameworks that leveled folk knowledge over the scientific one. Scientific published works are permeated with the search for a rational, applied side of traditional folk knowledge, the nullification of archaic worldview beliefs and ideas. Despite this, the achievements of Ukrainian ethnologists in the field of folk knowledge are based on a solid source base and do not lose their relevance to this day. The subject matter of scientific research has become richer, and their geographical boundaries have been expanded with the weakening of ideological pressure. Since the early-21st century, a number of regional studies on folk knowledge has increased, and studies by foreign authors have appeared. Historiographic review of published works on folk knowledge is a rethinking of the journal’s scientific contribution to the study and preservation of the intangible cultural heritage of Ukrainians and other peoples, an attempt to comprehend the scientific interests of Ukrainian and foreign ethnologists. Despite the ideological layering, the relevance of research on traditional folk knowledge for modern ethnological studies remains.