Ukrainian national traditions, customs and oral folk literature reflect Old Ukrainian pre-Christian, and Christian cultures. The rituals derive from the folk calendar, religious celebrations like Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, Ivana Kupala (St.John’s Eve), New Year, and the autumn folk festivals dedicated to the end of the agricultural work.
Ukrainians have typical wedding habits, family traditions connected with crafts and jobs (the first day of sowing, beginning of the harvest), along with traditional symbols (straw didukh, decorated pysanka Easter eggs, holy water, and traditional dishes like kutia (boiled wheat with honey and poppy seed0, paskha Easter bread, varenyky (something like ravioli), and pancakes. The rituals include folk dances, carols, and fortune telling, and blessing with water.
Literature
The literature of Kyivan Rus’ is represented by numerous Old Church Slavonic documents. About 1500 manuscripts have been found so far, among them the well-known autobiographies of the great martyrs Borys and Hlib; the first collection of laws, the Ruska Pravda; historical chronicle Povist’ vrem’ianykh lit (Tale of Bygone Years); and Slovo o polku Ihorevim (Lay of the Host of Ihor). The Middle Ages also left a legacy of hundreds of dumy (historical songs), lyrical folk poetry, and tales.
The first printing shops appeared in the sixteenth century and during the next two centuries thirteen printing houses were established in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Lutsk, Kremenets, Uman, etc. The first Ukrainian newspaper Gazette de Leopol was published in 1776.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Ukrainian literature experienced a renaissance despite the Polish and Russian countermeasures. Cossack chronicles and hundreds of works written in Ukrainian have come down to us. It was the time of famed Ukrainian philosopher, writer, and educator Hryhory Skovoroda. Ivan Kotliarevsky’s Eneyida, where Virgil’s Aeneid heroes were turned into Ukrainian Cossacks, introduced a new age of Ukrainian literature.
In 1840, Taras Shevchenko’s collection of poetry Kobzar was published, raising Ukrainian literature to world standards. He was also a renowned fighter for freedom of the Ukrainian people in the nineteenth century.
Also making great contributions to the Ukraine’s of the nineteenth century heritage were such writers as Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Ivan Nechui-Levytsky, Pavlo Hrabovsky, et al.
The literature of the twentieth century was characterized by two different movements when part of the authors remained in Ukraine and many others fled to form the Dihtmlora now scattered all over the world. Many writers-patriots – among them Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Pavlo Tychyna, Ostap Vyshnia, Volodymyr Sosiura, Vasyl Stus, Oles Honchar, and Lina Kostenko – tried to express themselves under totalitarian Soviet regime. At the same time the Ukrainian Dihtmlora enriched the national literatute with such names as Olga Teliha, Ivan Bahriany and Yuri Lypa, who had to write far away from their native land.
Independence has made it possible for all of today’s readers to get access to the Ukrainian literature heritage hitherto unknown to them.
Music
Folk music in Ukraine reflects the gains and traditions of the Kyivan Rus’. These were many ritual songs sung a capella. Historical songs (dumy) and kobza-playing appeared as typical Ukrainian folk genres in the sixteenth century. The Hlukhiv School of singing and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy were the core of musical education. In from the seventeenth to early nineteenth centuries Ukrainian choral music reached its peak owing to the works of Dmytro Bortniansky, Maksym Berezovsky, and Artemi Vedel.
The first Ukrainian opera, Zaporozhets za Dunayem (A Zaporozhzhian Cossack beyond the Danube), by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky was written in 1863. Ukrainian classical music was dominated by Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912) and in the twentieth Levko Revutsky, Borys Liatoshinsky, Stanislav Liudkevich, Volodymyr Barvisky, Kost Dankevych, and Hryhory Maiboroda further augmented its traditions.
Independence has encouraged the development of all musical directions: Ukrainian song is being restored; there are new musical genre in popular music: Cossack songs and song poetry, Polissia magic pop, and Kolomiya rap. Numerous new festivals and competitions have sprung up, among which the most popular are the Tavriya Games. Opera art festivals, international organ and piano music festivals have become a tradition.
Theatre
The roots of the Ukrainian theatre lie in the mythology of the ancient Slavs. There were prince and retinue theatres in Kyivan Rus’. In 1573, the first puppet theatre was founded. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the professional Ukrainian theatre was established.
Les Kurbas is considered to be the founder of the modern Ukrainian theatre. Despite the suppression by the Soviet power of national traditions, Ukrainian theatres continued to develop, with the number of theatres and drama troupes constantly increasing. Many Ukrainian producers and actors were recognized all over the world. Independence has encouraged the dramatic arts. Private theatres have emerged, and festivals are held featuring the best acting groups from many countries of Europe, America, and Asia. These were: Mystetske Berezillya (“The Art of Berezillya”, Kyiv), Zolotyi Lev (Golden Lion, Lviv), and Serge Lifar Ballet Competition. I.Borys, S.Danchenko, S.Moiseyev, and V.Petrov have expressed new artistic approaches. Producer Roman Viktiuk is now widely known thanks to his work. He is actually making the greatest impact on the world theatre aesthetics at the end of the twentieth century. Among stars of the contemporary Ukrainian stage, there are such names as Bohdan Stupka, Borys Kozak, Fedir Stryhun, Ada Rohovtseva, and Valeriya Zaklunna.
Cinema
The directing career of Oleksandr Dovzhenko was one of the landmarks in twentieth century world cinematography. His works was entered the golden heritage of the Ukrainian and world cinema. In 1958 at the International exhibition in Brussel his film Earth (1930) has been recognized as one of the best twelve films of all times and nations.
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the Ukrainian schools of poetic, Historical, and documentary films were the focus of attention. Films by Ukrainian directors have enjoyed success at international festivals and contests.
Many awards of international prestige were won by Serhiy Paradzhanov’s film, Shadovs of Ancestors Forgotten, winning among a classics of the Ukrainian cinema (alongside with Babylon XX by Ivan Mykolaichuk, and the Petition Lost by B.Ivchenko). In the 1960s, this film won first prize at the International Cinema Festival in Mar der Plata (Argentine), the Cup of the Festival of Festivals in Rome, award of the British Academy of film and Television, Gold Prize in Thessalonike (Greece). The Film Swan Lake: The Zone (by Serhiy Paradzhanov and Yury Illienko, 1990) was the first in the history of Ukrainian film to win the grand prix of the Cannes film festival.
New feature and documentary films of the time of independence show the pages of the Ukrainian history, culture, and national traditions, forgotten or hidden before. The best films are widely recognized by international audience. Such films as Fuzhou by Yury Illienko, Asthenic Syndrome by Kira Muratova, and The Voice of Grass by N.Motuzko have gained great popularity at film festivals in Cannes, Rotterdam, and Berlin. The film The Friend of the Deceased by V.Kryshtofovych has been of great success in the prestigious Two weeks of a Film Director programme in Cannes. The Ukrainian film The Derelict was awarded the grand prix at the 36th San Remo Film Festival.