Over the past two years, complex ethnographic studies of our region, which date back to the time of D. I. Yavornytskyi, have been resumed at DIM. It was he, together with Ya. Novytskyi, V. Babenk, M. Sumtsov, V. Kravchenko, and V. Dontsov, who laid the foundation for the ethnographic study of the population of the former Katerynoslav province (now Dnipropetrovsk region). They were practical researchers who had the opportunity to personally observe the traditions, daily life, and customs of individual national population groups in the villages and cities of the Dnieper region. This was the specificity of the methods of their research, which were carried out according to a certain program, which was apparently based on one of the first ethnographic programs developed in 1854 by V.D. Dobizhi and A.Ya. .
At the beginning of the field research, the newly formed Department of Ethnography of the Ministry of Education and Culture (from March 1994 – the ethnography sector, from March 1995 – the department) also faced the question of compiling an ethnographic program that would meet the requirements of the time and the specifics of the ethnographic situation in the region. Such a program was created on the basis of numerous ethnographic, ethnographic, museological and methodical literature, analysis of materials of previous scientific expeditions of the DIM to the villages and cities of the region.
In the introductory part of the program, the main areas of ethnographic research are highlighted:
study of the ethnic culture of all nations and peoples of the region, their influence on the development of Ukrainian culture and vice versa;
carrying out a complex collection of field ethnographic materials in terms of preservation for science and display in a museum;
study of the impact of local features of nature on the life of the nation.
In connection with a long break in the scientific ethnographic research of the region (early 30s – early 90s of the 20th century: there was a need for a comprehensive total survey of the region, which is achieved in the course of complex ethnographic expeditions to all districts of the region, which in turn, they are divided into squares.This way, the most complete study of the region is achieved (village – square – district – region).
Historical events of the Soviet period gave rise to certain requirements regarding the selection of priority areas for survey. First of all, the districts least destroyed during collectivization and the Great Patriotic War are chosen. For this, the researcher compiles a historical reference to the selected district and singles out the oldest villages in terms of existence, and among them – the least destroyed.
The organizers of the expedition determine: tasks of the expedition, route of movement; the code of the expedition and field documentation is prepared, which must be compiled during the expedition according to the types of work in the field (these are personal observations, surveys of the population, recording of physical elements, collection of ethnographic complexes, namely: the plan-program of the expedition and questionnaires on all topics, field description , expedition diary, regimental notebooks of all members of the expedition, maps, diagrams, photo and phonofilm.
During a year and a half of the work of the ethnographic department (sector) of ethnography of the DIM, 3 expeditions were conducted to the Petropavlovsk, Mezhev and Sofiiv districts. In the course of the work, corrections were made regarding practical actions and compilation of field documentation, scientific reports were compiled.
I consider it necessary to highlight those problems that were solved on my own experience, which may be needed in the following ethnographic expeditions, namely:
early warning of the population of the district about the expedition (via radio, press);
the expedition period should last 10–12 days, 3 times a year (for the ethnographic department);
composition of the expedition: 6–10 people (a photographer is required), a philologist and fund employees;
registration of documentation (field): mandatory full daily filling and correction; each member of the expedition records conversations in a field notebook; the expedition leader, among other things, fills in a field diary (every day); every evening, a field description is filled out, exhibits are numbered.
At the end of the expedition, all field documents are handed over to the head of the expedition for drawing up a scientific report.
Selection of informants: consultative assistance of the district department of culture, village councils, old residents.
The need for field research in the work of ethnographic departments of historical and local history museums is obvious. In our opinion, their effectiveness depends primarily on serious methodical preparation, some aspects of which are presented by the author of the message.
O. V. Panchenko (Dnipropetrovsk)
Source: Regional and general in history: Theses of the international scientific conference dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth of D.I. Yavornytskyi and the 90th anniversary of the XIII Archaeological Congress (November 9, 1995). Dnipropetrovsk, 1995. — 328 p.
