Christian and Pagan Traditions in the Church Holidays and Ceremonies of Budjak (on the material of Vladimir Afanasyev graphics)

Abstract

In this study, it is our intention to highlight the peculiarities of intersection of Christian and pagan traditions in church holidays and ceremonies of Budjak, a border district in the south of Odessa region, Ukraine. Its distinctive features are mulculturalism and nationally specific forms of communication in the situation of dinamic cultural interference. The material of the study is the album The World of Graphics... (2001), by the Bessarabian artist Vladimir Afanasyev, who collected 140 ethnographic sketches with a verbal component created by him during a quarter of a century. The paper with a focus on “Holidays and Rituals” block of pictures continues some previous examinations conducted on the cycles of graphic images of V. Afanasiev, such as “Nature of Budjak”, “Work”, “Leisure”, “Popular Pedagogy”. The novelty consists of the conducted examination and the critical opinions, devoted to regional specifics of pre‐Christian Old Slavonic ceremonies, preserved in collective memory of local society. The work can be useful to academics and practitioners who have specific responsibilities in the field of Cultural and Art Studies.