Ukrainian Peasants - Kinship, Marriage, and Family

Although weddings and other life-cycle rites indicate the prior existence of extended-family patterns of social organization, the nuclear family was the norm from the time of extensive ethnographic work in the nineteenth century and has continued to be so. The reasons that Ukrainians were less dependent on large family units than their neighbors include favorable agricultural conditions, which permit the economic survival of smaller groups of workers, and the proliferation of the Cossacks and their way of life as the model for everything from clothing to family life. The importance of ancestors and the likely existence of a prior ancestor cult is indicated by the honoring of the dead in almost all yearly cycle rites, including the ritual meal eaten on family graves on the Sunday after Easter. Ancestors are treated as a general category rather than specific persons in a family's past. Godparenthood is important and bears the same incest taboos as biological relationships. Godparents are usually honored relatives of the father, but may be anyone in the village, one custom being that, in cases of difficult conception or birth, the first people encountered after the birth should be invited as godparents.

Marriage and childbearing are still extremely important markers of adulthood. Birth now usually occurs in a clinic. In the past, although protective magic was practiced during pregnancy and childbirth, the mother was not confined either before or after birth, and the actual birth did not occur in any specific place. The house was the desired location, with the welcoming of the newborn including not only his or her introduction to the family, but also an introduction to the house (by touching the infant to the roof beam and the stove). Where baptism is still practiced, the child is christened by the godparents immediately after birth because it is considered unsafe to nurse the baby otherwise. The mother was expected to work through pregnancy, so there are numerous reports of births occurring in the fields. The mother was also supposed to return to work soon after delivery, leaving the baby to be cared for by his or her grandparents or older siblings. Current practice is a mixture of tradition and Soviet policy, with work continuing through pregnancy but with more of a tendency to take permitted leave after delivery. The desire for children is attested in a number of ways, including the prevalence of fertility magic. There are remnants of a belief in conception as ingestion, and certain foods, such as eggs and powdered pussy willows, are supposed to enhance fertility. Since World War II abortion has become increasingly common and, as elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, is the primary means of birth control.

Marriage. Age of marriage was and has remained quite young—late teens or early twenties. Formal matchmaking by representatives of the prospective bride and groom ( svaty ) was preceded by courtship, usually various meetings and activities arranged by the heads of the respective male ( parubotski ) and female ( divotski ) groups. The wedding itself is a complicated affair with a special wedding cake ( korovai ), a "bachelor party" for the bride and her female friends, numerous exchanges of gifts and food between the groom's family and that of the bride, and ritual expressions of antagonism between the two sides. The wedding was supposed to last a week, with all of the village invited, and even now may last three days. The upsurge of nationalist feeling in Ukraine has found expression in attempts to revive traditional wedding customs.

Domestic Unit. The basic unit now is the nuclear family, incorporated into the community of the collective farm. There are indications that a similar arrangement existed prior to collectivization with families in a single village sharing pasturelands and having villagewide brotherhoods and sisterhoods of unmarried youths.

Inheritance. Inheritance is a moot question in a Soviet Ukrainian village. Prior to collectivization, Ukrainian inheritance was subject to the same laws as elsewhere in the Russian Empire, namely, women were permitted to inherit property as of the late nineteenth century. Traditional patterns of inheritance were that land and cattle were passed through the male line. Women owned all of their jewelry, which they passed on to daughters. They also controlled all of the cloth and other household items that they brought to the marriage.

Socialization. Respect for parents and adults in general is taught by everything from games to songs. Corporal punishment is used, although shaming and withdrawal of affection are important means of discipline. The attitude toward work is interesting, excessive industriousness being considered indicative of avarice, and thus avoided.